Festive rituals began at “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni” at 5:00 a.m.

Today is the first lunar day of the month of the Dragon. Every year on this day the Kalmyk people celebrate the arrival of long-awaited spring — the national holiday of Tsagan Sar.

From early morning the monks of the Central Khurul, led by the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Tenzin Choydak, offered up their prayers to the patroness of our people, the protector of the Buddha’s Teaching, the goddess Okon Tengri. They recited praises to her, asking for the well-being of all living beings, and performed the ritual offering of balং (special offerings made from dough). For it is believed that it is precisely on this day, in the hours before dawn, that the goddess Okon Tengri descends to earth.

Dear believers, the monastic Sangha of Kalmykia congratulates each of you on the arrival of the White Month! May you all be healthy, may your loved ones be healthy, may your thoughts always be pure and kind-hearted, and may you always be under the protection of the great Okon Tengri🙏

Цаһан сарин байран сән-сәәхнәр тосҗ, оньдин дөрвн цагт амрч-җирһҗ йовтн!