The House for Ganjur

Syrtypova Surun-Khanda

...According to approximate estimates, by the beginning of the 20th century almost half a million of Buddhist volumes were kept in forty Buryat datsans. The cost of these collections, excluding especially valuable volumes manually copied with “nine precious objects”, such as Ganjur, a collection of Buddha preachings, was about 4.5 million roubles (in prices of 1914). Silk and brocade, multi-color tassels, woven ribbon, exquisite patterns and designs… This elegant “dressing” materializes the deference to the manuscript text that has always been typical of local nomads.

Surun-Khanda Syrtypova, Candidate of Sciences in History, tells about the fascinating collection of Tibetan and Mongol manuscripts and xylographs of the Institute of Mongol, Buddhism and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of RAS (Ulan-Ude).

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