In Focus — the Club of Accredited Guides at the Central Khurul

For several years now, extensive work has been carried out at “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni” together with the guides. These are the people who convey important, essential information both about the Buddhist Teaching, its Protectors, the history and development of the religion, and about the work of the temple itself.

As Galina Aydarova, senior  guide of the “History of Buddhism in Kalmykia” museum of the Central Khurul, noted, today 23 people hold accreditation at the khurul — these are the people who confirm their knowledge every year at a specially held examination. “Over the past year, 1280 excursions were conducted at our Buddhist temple, involving more than 53 thousand people, and of course, without the help of our accredited guides we would not have coped with such a flow. For our part, we always try to help our colleagues, we hold interesting meetings, dialogues, and analyses of important questions,” Galina Alekseyevna told us.

Recently, a practical session was held at the museum with Andzha-Gelung, a monk of the Central Khurul, in which they examined the law of Virtue. As members of the Club of Accredited Guides note, the meeting  was very interesting, various  questions were asked, and the participants received detailed answers to each of them. “Such dialogues with clergy are simply essential for us. They help us in our work,” the guides explained. Andzha-Gelung always tries to help the Club, prepares interesting materials, and shares his knowledge.

Already in March, on the eve of the big tourist season, the Central Khurul will hold the certification of 16 more new guides, and the accreditations of the current ones will also be extended. All of this will take place in the format of an examination with tickets. The procedure for conducting this examination has already been developed, since for conducting excursions it is important not only to know the material and Buddhist terms, but also the delivery and timing.