THE DALAI LAMA CONSECRATES THE RECREATED BANNERS OF OUR ANCESTORS
The most important symbols of our past ― the ancient banners, recreated anew and consecrated on October 6, 2022 at the Central Khurul of Kalmykia “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni,” have a direct connection to the Dalai Lamas.
The banner of Eselbein Sain-Ka, together with a charter and a seal, was presented to the Oirats by the 3rd Dalai Lama; the banner of Daichi Tengri was created, as was the text of the prayer-invocation to this deity, by the 5th Dalai Lama at the request of the Oirat Galdan Boshogtu Khan; and the banner of Donduk-Dashi ― became a symbol of the Kalmyk Khanate in the time of the 6th Dalai Lama.
“When we reconstructed our ancient banners, we very much wished that they be consecrated by the 14th Dalai Lama, as our ancestors used to do. Oleg Bartunov and I brought these banners to India, and today, with the assistance of the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, His Holiness personally performed the ritual of their consecration! Examining the cloths, he expressed great joy that these great sacred relics of the Oirat-Kalmyks have once again returned to their people, and will once again unite and protect them,” recounts Yonten-Gelung, the head of the project to restore the banners.
In addition, the delegation from Kalmykia offered His Holiness the book by Gennady Korneev “The Sacred Banners of the Oirats and Kalmyks,” and His Holiness the Dalai Lama blessed and gifted to our people a sacred statue, which from now on will be kept at the Central Khurul of Kalmykia so that all the faithful may venerate it.
But this is not the only relic gifted to the Kalmyks. During the audience of the Kalmyk delegation with His Holiness Kundeling Rinpoche, the venerable Teacher offered as a gift to our people a statue of Okn Tengr made of numerous sacred relics. Such a sacred object is a great rarity in the Buddhist world, and now the faithful of Kalmykia will have the opportunity to receive its special blessing.
“May the power of the spiritual merits accumulated during the performance of these virtuous deeds bring our people and all living beings happiness, well-being, and the protection of all deities! After we return from India, we will tell everything in detail,” Yonten-Gelung told us by telephone.
