Zandan zhuu. Zandan Zhuu (Sandalwood Buddha) The impact of the statue on the faithful

1901 The night cover over the huge eastern city is torn by fires. The streets are filled with smoke and the intoxicating smell of gunpowder. Shots, screams, groans are heard everywhere

From the burning monastery of Sandan-Sy, several military men carefully carry out a huge bundle and put it on a cart. There are drops of sweat and joy mingled with anxiety on their swarthy swarthy faces. These are the Cossacks of the 6th hundred of the 1st Verkhneudinsky regiment of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army in Beijing, engulfed by the boxer uprising, are implementing the prediction of the Buddha. A prediction that is 2,500 years old. Now about everything in order.

The inscription on the stone

Immersing the inquisitive traveler into the mysterious atmosphere of these places, the road, which has already turned into a forest road not far from the Egituysky datsan, leads to a mysterious stone that one of my hunter friends, Vladimir Nikolaevich Safeev, found in the taiga. Once, while chasing a red deer wounded during a hunt, he sat down to rest and was surprised to find that he was sitting next to an unusual stone. On the one hand, facing the taiga thicket, it looks like an ordinary boulder. On the other side, which looks out from the wild rosemary onto the forest road, it seems to be cut off with a huge sharp knife and has a smooth matte surface in the form of two semicircles located one above the other. In the center of this site, it is not known how a strange sign was applied.

My friend, who was born and lived in these parts all his life, who traveled the local taiga far and wide, did not hear anything about this stone, just as other old-timers did not hear about it either.

As it turned out later, this is a sign from the Sanskrit alphabet, read as "om". It is with him that one of the most popular and significant mantras in Buddhism "Om mani padme hum" begins. My friend became interested in the local lamas, what could mean the presence of this stone here. He received the following answer: “Here is a strong place.” This means that these places have a very powerful energy and some higher forces feed it. And when I tried to somehow clarify with other clergy the origin of the inscription on the stone, I was told: the inscription is not made by hands. The rest is a mystery that has yet to be solved.

Six steps forward

The Egitui datsan itself, which has the Tibetan name "Damchoy Ravzheling", is an ancient architectural complex on the banks of the Marakta River, founded in 1820. Once it consisted of twelve buildings. There were philosophical, medical and astrological dugans here.

Photo: anonim03.ru

More than three hundred huvarak students comprehended sciences in them. They say that when they whispered a prayer, it was heard at a distance of three kilometers. It is hard to imagine, but in this "bear corner" already at the beginning of the 19th century there was its own printing house.

And the datsan was not famous for this at all. Its main attraction was and still is the statue of Zandan Zhuu (Sandalwood Buddha). Well, here we come to the main secret. The history of Zandan Zhuu began 2500 years ago, when this only lifetime image of the Buddha was created today. It is difficult now to say how one of the first works of Buddhist art actually came into being, there is too much of everything unusual here, but this Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama was also an unusual person.

I don’t know what to believe: either that the masters sculpted him from the reflection in the river, because the light emanating from him blinded them, or that they had to go to heaven, where the Buddha was at that time ... But, as it were whatever it was, his image was born. It is said that when the Buddha went to the statue to compare the similarities, she took six steps towards him. It is said that this is what prompted the Buddha to make the following prophecy: the statue will move north, and where it will be, Buddhism should flourish.

You can believe it or not, but the prophecy has come true. And in the chain of those events, which will be discussed further, there are no accidents.

Nail on the foot

During these 2500 years, the statue slowly but surely moved north. First, in the 4th century, the monks, saving the statue from internecine wars, transported it to the city of Kucha in Central Asia. Then she went to China. After that, as a gift, she migrated to Tibet, and during the time of Genghis Khan - to Mongolia. And wherever the statue appeared, Buddhism began to flourish everywhere. The following story is connected with the stay of Zandan Zhuu in China. When the clergy of the monastery left the room where she stood for the night, her face was turned to where the people turned the statue, but every morning she invariably looked to the north.

She remembered the Buddha's prediction. This problem was solved very simply - a nail was driven into the foot of the statue. From Mongolia, she again moved to China, where she was before the start of the events from which this story began.

Miracles of Sandalwood Buddha

Someday history will name the names of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks who saved the Buddhist shrine from the fire, but so far they are unknown to us. However, the names of other people who risked their lives to save Zandan Zhuu are known. These are the head of the Russian postal service Gomboev and lama Erdeniin Sorzho of the Egitui datsan.

The statue was securely hidden on a cart, and across two borders - Chinese and Mongolian - was brought to Russia. When the priceless cargo left Mongolia, the guards asked why it was so securely wrapped. And they received an answer from those accompanying them: this is a relative who died of the plague. There were no more questions.

In 1934, during the persecution of datsans, Zandan Zhuu was transferred to the Odigitrievsky Cathedral of Ulan-Ude. There at that time were the funds of the anti-religious museum. In the early 80s of the last century, it was there that I had a chance to see it for the first time. On September 22, 1992, the statue was again returned to believers and now it is forever located in the Egituysky datsan. Thus ended the centuries-old wanderings of the Sandalwood Buddha. And only the hole from the nail in the foot of the statue reminds of its difficult fate. But the miracles didn't end there. One of the esteemed lamas told me that Zandan Zhuu stands without touching the surface of the pedestal: a thread passes freely between the base of the statue and the pedestal. Everything can be in our extraordinary region.

People come here from afar to bow to the Sandalwood Buddha, ask him for health, long life for themselves and their loved ones. And the statue helps. Helps everyone who believes.

A small touch from the modern history of Zandan Zhuu

In 2012, I happened to visit the places of deployment of the Buryat police in the North Caucasus. We drove through Chechnya, Dagestan. So, in Kaspiysk, at the location of the consolidated detachment in the so-called cockpit, I saw at the head of a row of beds a slightly crumpled image of Zandan Zhuu, cut out from some magazine. At the head of the bed, where icons are usually found, an ordinary piece of paper was attached. But there was a shrine on it, from which the guys asked to help them return home. And they came back safe and sound.

Addendum from the editor

This one described the history and his impressions of Zandan Zhuu by an unknown author. Let's add one more case. September 22, 1991, the day when Zandan Zhuu was returned to the datsan, turned out to be very cold. It was raining with snow. A landing site for a helicopter was prepared in front of the datsan. He was late, there was a fear that because of such weather he might not arrive. But the wet people waited patiently in the piercing cold wind. And then the long-awaited helicopter emerged from behind the clouds. After landing, people formed a long living corridor. Many could not hold back their tears of joy. Especially those who were a child in the terrible years of persecution of religion. Those before whose children's eyes the Egituysky datsan was destroyed so violently that the entire Egituyskaya valley was strewn with the pages of sacred books.

The pilots opened the cargo compartment, and the lamas carefully carried the sacred Burkhan Zandan Zhuu to the Eravna land and carried it through the open doors of the datsan. The dream of returning to the native datsan of the shrine at that time Khambo Lama Munko Tsybikov came true. He carried this dream through the years of arrests, stages and a long exile in Kolyma.

“We gladly accepted the order to deliver Zandan Zhuu. It was difficult to fly. Wet snow, poor visibility. When they flew over Khorinsk, the ground was covered with snow. We chose a low flying ceiling. My colleagues Sergey Boyko, Vasily Bayusheev are experienced pilots. Responsible mission completed. May the prayers made in your datsan be heard by everyone. God help everyone! - said then the commander of the Mi-8 crew A.V. Vatulin to the regional newspaper "Ulan-Tuya".

Almost 14 years later, on September 20, 2005, the second time the helicopter made an honorable circle and landed at the Egituysky datsan. Imagine the surprise of the villagers who met them when they recognized in the crew the same pilots who returned the shrine in extreme conditions in September 1991. This time they were asked to be taken to the shrine only by Mikhail Slipenchuk, who got acquainted with Buryatia. Seeing the enthusiastic curiosity of the children who had stuck around the helicopter, he asked the pilots to take the kids for a ride. With joyful cries, the children crammed into the salon and for the first time in their lives circled their native valley. And downstairs at this time, a new guest, impressed by Zandan Zhuu, decided to help in the construction of a palace for the shrine.

Zandan Zhuu (Sandalwood Buddha)

Egitui datsan. Photo: Arkady Zarubin

Zandan Zhuu, "Sandalwood Buddha" or "Sandalwood Lord" - a Buddha sculpture 2 m 18 cm high, made of sandalwood, according to legend, 2500 years ago by order of the Raja of Uddiyana. Located in the Egituysky datsan of Buryatia. It is a Buddhist shrine and is considered the only one made during the life of the Buddha (in literary sources there are references to other lifetime portraits and sculptures, but there is no reliable evidence). According to Buddhist tradition, it is considered a living Buddha - his images bring grace. The statue has a special iconography: the Buddha stands, with long arms to the knees, among the flowers and the landscape, a "human" Buddha, similar to Maitreya Buddha.

Story

According to tradition, the Buddha prophesied the relocation of Zandan Zhuu to the North and, accordingly, the relocation of the center of Buddhism.

In the III century. the statue was taken from India to China.
In the 4th century, the monk Kumarayan from Kashmir, in order to save the statue from local wars, took it to Kucha,

married the sister of a local ruler and became a spiritual mentor in the state. His son Kumarajiva became a famous Buddhist sage.

In the 8th century - the wives of the Tibetan king Srontszangambo brought a statue to Tibet. Under the next ruler, King Tisrondetsan, Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet.
In the XIII century. - location presumably in Mongolia.
In the winter of 1901 Sandalwood Buddha found himself in Transbaikalia. After the defeat of the Boxer Rebellion,

Buryat Cossacks, taking advantage of the turmoil and devastation in the city and the fire in the Sandan-sy monastery (“Monastery of the Sandalwood Buddha”), where the statue was kept at that time, took it out. The operation was led by the head of the Russian post office Gomboev. Upon arrival, a metal copy of the statue was made and placed in the Egituysky datsan, the original was hidden. The Japanese learned the location of the statue. Upon arrival, they were shown a metal copy and left with nothing.

In the 1930s, it was kept in the Odigitrievsky Church in Ulan-Ude, where the funds of the Museum of Local Lore were located.
In the 1980s, the statue was returned to believers and placed in the Egituysky datsan.
April 22, 2003 Decision of the Buddhist traditional sangha of Russia (Ivolginsky datsan): “To approve as Buddhist shrines in Russia:

Buddhist legend about the appearance of the statue

According to the Tocharian monk Dharmanandi (385 CE) (Ekottara Agama Sutras from the Anuttara Nikaya), the Buddha was in Tushita heaven, preaching the Dharma to his deceased mother Maya. Prasenajit wanted to see the Enlightened Lord and ordered to make his statue. Maudgalyayana took the masters to heaven where they met the Buddha. After the masters returned, they carved a life-size sandalwood statue. When Shakyamuni Buddha returned to earth, the statue took six steps towards him, then he made a prophecy that it would be moved to the north, and Buddhism would flourish there.

The impact of the statue on believers

Not everyone can be at the Zandan Zhuu: some can't stand it, they leave the datsan. Others, on the contrary, find that several hours have passed since they sat down in front of the Sandalwood Buddha. It is believed that the shrine eliminates negative deeds, grants a long life, gives a setting for good luck, happiness, health, if the worshiper hopes for him and believes in it from the bottom of his heart.

Sources

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Books

Sandalwood Buddha of the King Udayana / The Sandalwood Buddha of the King Udayana, A. A. Terentiev. An ancient Buddhist legend said that even during the life of the Buddha, his sculptural image was carved from sandalwood. Over time, this statue was transported to China, where ...

Sculpture of Buddha 2 m 18 cm high, made of sandalwood, according to legend, 2500 years ago, commissioned by the Raja of Oddiyana.

Located in the Egituysky datsan of Buryatia. It is a Buddhist shrine and is considered the first statue of Buddha in history and the only statue made during the life of the Buddha. In literary sources there are references to other lifetime portraits and sculptures, but there is no reliable evidence.

Vera Lubsanova, CC BY-SA 3.0

According to Buddhist tradition, it is considered a living Buddha - his images bring grace. The statue has a special iconography: the Buddha stands, with long arms to the knees, among the flowers and the landscape, a "human" Buddha, similar to Maitreya Buddha.

Story

According to tradition, the Buddha prophesied the relocation of Zandan Zhuu to the North and, accordingly, the relocation of the center of Buddhism.

In the III century. the statue from India was transported to China.

In the 4th century, the monk Kumarayan from Kashmir, in order to save the statue from local wars, took it to Kucha, married the sister of the local ruler and became a spiritual mentor in the state. His son Kumarajiva became a famous Buddhist sage.

In the 8th century - The wives of the Tibetan king Srontszangambo brought a statue to Tibet. Under the next ruler, King Tisrondetsan, Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet.

In the XIII century. - location presumably in Mongolia.

Arkady Zarubin, CC BY-SA 3.0

In the winter of 1901 Sandalwood Buddha found himself in Transbaikalia. After the defeat of the Boxer uprising, the Buryat Cossacks, taking advantage of the turmoil and devastation in the city and the fire in the Sandansy Monastery (“Monastery of the Sandalwood Buddha”), where the statue was kept at that time, took it out. The operation was led by the head of the Russian post office Gomboev. During the fire, the Buryat Cossacks carried the precious statue out of the burning monastery, and thus saved it from death in the fire. As a trophy, the statue was taken with great precautions on a sleigh to Buryatia.

Vera Lubsanova, CC BY-SA 3.0

According to another version, Zandan Zhuu was brought to Yeravna thanks to the incredible efforts of the Sorzho Lama of the Egitui datsan Gombo Dorzho Erdyneev and many other people who risked their lives. Upon arrival, a metal copy of the statue was made and placed in the Egituysky datsan, the original was hidden. During the civil war, the Japanese invaders found out the location of the statue. Upon arrival, they were shown a metal copy and left with nothing.

Stored in the 1930s Ulan-Ude, where the funds of the Museum of Local Lore are located.

In the 1980s, the statue was returned to believers. On September 25, 1991, Zandan Zhuu was transported by helicopter to the Egitui datsan.

April 22, 2003 Decision of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia (): “To approve as Buddhist shrines in Russia: the statue of Zandan Zhuu, the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine, the Precious Body of Khambo Lama D.-D. Itigelov.

temple for storage

For some time, the statue was kept in the dugan of the Egituysky datsan, in a small wooden one-story building, not suitable for storing cultural and historical values.

In this regard, the Buddhist Sangha decided to build a special storage room with a constant microclimate.

Photo gallery

Helpful information

Zandan Zhuu
sandalwood buddha
Sandalwood Lord

Buddhist legend about the appearance of the statue

According to the Tocharian monk Dharmanandi (385 CE) (Ekottara Agama Sutras from the Anuttara Nikaya), the Buddha was in Tushita heaven preaching the Dharma to his dead mother Maya.

Prasenajit wanted to see the Enlightened Lord and ordered to make his statue. Maudgalyayana took the masters to heaven where they met the Buddha.

After the masters returned, they carved a life-size sandalwood statue.

When Shakyamuni Buddha returned to earth, the statue took six steps towards him, then he made a prophecy that it would be moved to the north, and Buddhism would flourish there.

The impact of the statue on believers

Egituysky datsan "Damchoy Ravzheling" is located in the Republic of Buryatia, 300 km from Ulan-Ude on the picturesque western bank of the Marakta River in the Khara-Shibir area of the Yeravninsky district.

One of the well-known sacred places of Buryatia is the Egituysky datsan, located in the town of Khara-Shibir, in the Yeravnensky district, about 280 km east of Ulan-Ude. It is noteworthy that it contains the Sandalwood Buddha, a lifetime statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, 2 m 18 cm high, made 2500 years ago by order of Raja Udayana from sandalwood (in fact, by analysis it was established that the tree is a linden covered with sandalwood paste) . There is a legend recorded by the Tocharian monk Dharmanandi in 385 AD. (in the Chinese translation of the Ekottara-agama-sutra from Anuttara-nikaya according to A.A. Terentyev), that the Enlightened One was at that time in the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods, preaching the Dharma to his mother Maya, who was reborn there after death. Raja Prasenajit desired to see the Enlightened One and commanded to sculpt his statue. Maudgalyana, a disciple of the Buddha who had attained miraculous powers, took the masters to heaven, where they met the Enlightened One. The craftsmen were brought back to earth and carved a life-size statue of goshirsha sandalwood about two meters high.

"" The statue came to the territory of Russia in Eravna thanks to the incredible efforts of the Sorzho Lama of the Egitui datsan Gombo Dorzho Erdyneev and many other people who risked their lives. The sandalwood statue was bought by the lamas of the datsan during the Boxer Rebellion in China. According to another version, in the winter of 1901, after the defeat of the uprising in Beijing, the Buryat Cossacks carried the precious statue out of the burning monastery during a fire, and thereby saved it from death in the fire. As a trophy, the statue was taken with great precautions on a sleigh to Buryatia. At the same time, a metal copy of the statue was made, and the original is hidden. Until 1935, the statue was in one of the sumes of the Egituysky datsan and was an object of worship and reverence. During the period of anti-religious repressions, the statue was transported to Ulan-Ude and kept in the funds of the National Museum of the History of Buryatia. """ from the history of the appearance of the statue in the Buryat land. Chinese sources contain information about her movement from India at that time. In the 4th century, the monk Kumarayan from Kashmir, in order to save the statue from local wars, took it to Central Asia, where in Kucha (an oasis city of the Great Silk Road) he was forced to marry the ruler's sister Jivaka and become a spiritual mentor in the state. His son Kumarajiva became a famous Buddhist sage. His fame became so great that in 384 Chinese troops laid siege to Kucha in order to capture Kumarajiva and bring him to China. Together with him, the statue of the Sandalwood Buddha was transported, after which the rise of Buddhist thought in China followed. At the beginning of the 8th century The wives of the Tibetan king Srontsangambo from Nepal and China brought Buddhist relics, among them the statue of the Sandalwood Buddha, to Tibet. The Nepalese princess Bhrikuti was revered as the Green Tara, and the Chinese princess Wen-chen as the White Tara. And under the next ruler, King Tisrondetsan, Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet. According to other Chinese sources, the statue first came to Mongolia during the reign of Genghis Khan in the 13th century. and then was transported to China, where it is not known how many years it was kept in the province of Li, in the Sandan-Su Monastery, which was built especially for it - “The Monastery of the Sandalwood Buddha”. The history of her stay in Russia is amazing. In China in 1890-1901. the Boxer Rebellion broke out (Ihetuan uprising, secret society I-he-quan "Fist in the name of justice of consent"). In June 1901, Beijing was captured by the rebels, burned and destroyed. The statue of the Sandalwood Buddha was kept in the Sandan-sy Monastery - “The Monastery of the Sandalwood Buddha”, where all the Buddhist pilgrims of Mongolia, Buryatia and Tibet worshiped it when visiting Beijing. Orientalist and one of the oldest Russian Buddhists V.M. Montlevich writes about this: “But fragments of information about the abduction itself have been preserved, and this information is more or less reliable, because the well-known Russian orientalist Boris Ivanovich Pankratov told them to me in 1969, for many years (32 years, from 1916 to 1948.) spent in China. In the winter of 1901, after the defeat of the Boxer uprising, the Buryat Cossacks, taking advantage of the turmoil and devastation in the city and the fire in the monastery itself, took the statue out. The operation was led by the head of the Russian post office Gomboev. The statue was placed on a sled, covered with straw and matting, and disguised with provisions and postal props. In total there were two sledges, the statue was carried on the second, as if cargo, sleigh. One can imagine the reverent awe and desperate delight of those who carried out this bold and dangerous undertaking, because they accomplished a religious feat for the sake of spreading the Teaching, of course, fulfilling the order of teachers and lamas unknown to us and revered. The performers knew that there is a belief: where the Sandalwood Buddha is, there is the center of the Buddhist religion. What believer does not admire his soul to consider his country and his datsan as such a center. Without much adventure, the statue arrived in Transbaikalia and was hidden in the Egituysky monastery (datsan). Then a metal copy of the statue was made and placed in the Egituysky datsan; the original was carefully hidden in a secret place. This precaution was entirely appropriate. The uprising in China was brutally suppressed by the forces of England, Germany, Russia, Japan and France in September 1901. And soon Japanese experts arrived in Buryatia in search of the famous statue. The Japanese had information that the statue was in the Egitui datsan. Those who arrived were shown a metal copy, and they were forced to leave in complete disappointment.
Of course, the question arises about the ownership of the statue. In response to the indignant demand of the Chinese for the return of the statue, the Buryat lamas replied: -Of course, we will give the statue back, .... when all our people bow to it.
Zandan Zhuu is not the only lifetime image of the Buddha; in the literature there are references to his picturesque portraits and other sculptures. Moreover, the Siamese and Burmese versions speak of a seated Buddha image, while the Mahayana texts speak of a standing sculpture.

The road to the Egituysky datsan. On the way we met a pair of herons, which is considered a good sign. It is explained that the deities of the area welcome our desire to visit the Sandalwood Buddha.

Birds were practically not afraid of passing cars.

But as soon as we stopped to photograph them, the herons decided to fly a little further away.

Datsan buildings appeared

Stupas oriented to the cardinal points.

Main Dugan, which houses the statue of the Sandalwood Buddha

Traditional Wheel of Teaching and two fallow deer on the sides

Here he is! The famous Sandalwood Buddha, the world relic of Buddhists! It is said that when Buddha Shakyamuni first saw this statue, the statue took six steps towards him. Then Buddha Shakyamuni prophesied that the statue would be far away in the northern country and would contribute to the prosperity of the Teaching in that direction.

It is said that the statue of the Sandalwood Buddha hangs in the air and you can drag a hadak under it.
The Buddha prophesied its movement to the north: to China, Tibet, Mongolia. Wherever the Sandalwood Buddha went, the center of Buddhism also moved. In the III century. the statue from India was transported to China. This was followed by the rise of Buddhist thought in China. In the 8th century The Nepalese wife of the Tibetan king brought the Sandalwood Buddha to Tibet. And under the next ruler, King Tisrondetsan, Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet. In the 13th century, before the spread of Buddhism in Mongolia, we again find mention of the appearance of the Sandalwood Buddha there. The prediction comes true, and the appearance of Zandan Zhuu in Transbaikalia in the winter of 1901 is a good omen for the development of the Buddha's Teaching in Russia.
Until 1935, she was in one of the sumes of the Egituysky datsan and was an object of worship and reverence. During the troubled period of repression, Zandan Zhuu was transported to Ulan-Ude and kept in the funds of the Museum of the History of Buryatia.

On September 25, 1991, Zandan Zhuu was transported by helicopter to the Zgitui Datsan. In July 2008, the opening of the Palace for Zandan Zhuu took place.

Zandan Zhuu has slightly squinted eyelids, his gaze is directed slightly upwards, the right hand of the Sandalwood Buddha is raised in a greeting-protective gesture, the left hand is turned palm forward, but fingers down. They say that not everyone can be at the Zandan Zhuu: some cannot withstand this powerful energy flow, they leave the datsan. And others, on the contrary, after a while discover that several hours have passed since they sat down in front of the Sandalwood Buddha. The sculpture has a special "magnetic" power, there are many legends about this shrine. Old-timers say that the shrine eliminates negative deeds, grants a long life, gives a setting for good luck, happiness, health, if the worshiper hopes for him and believes him from the bottom of his heart.

altar decoration

nice and bright inside

Tent on the ceiling

The entrance to the dugan is guarded by snow lions

flowers planted everywhere

Dragons wrapping around pillars

Stupas

Prayer drums with mantras Om Mani Padme Hum inside. If you turn the drum clockwise, then the mantras Om Mani Padme Hum ascend into space and delight all living beings.

Duganchiki on the territory of the datsan

We were given a short tour of the datsan

History of the Sandalwood Buddha.

All guests from India and Tibet who come to the land of Buryatia strive to be at the Sandalwood Buddha. It is truly a global shrine. Dr. Nida Chtenattsang reads the puja to the Sandalwood Buddha.
It is said that one who sees the statue in person will not be reborn in the next life in hell.
The statue is recognized as a monument of federal significance and, along with the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and the Imperishable Body of Khambo Lama D.-D. Itigelov, by the decision of the large all-lamic meeting (sugunda) of the Buddhist traditional Sangha of Russia dated April 22, 2003, was approved as a Buddhist shrine.

Unknown shrine.

In a distant Buryat datsan, there is a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, which is perhaps the most valuable relic of the entire Buddhist world. We are talking about the sandalwood buddha, which in the distorted Buryat pronunciation is called Zandan in Tibetan - zhuu. This statue can be compared with the Shroud of Turin or with the black stone of the Kaaba. Yes, to go far, its significance for the Buddhist world is comparable to the bodhi tree in bodhgaya or the Sinhalese tooth of a Buddha. But unlike all of the above religious relics, the Buryat zandan - zhuu is almost unknown in the Buddhist world. What's the matter? It is already difficult to call Buryatia "Bear Corner", a godforsaken place, information about which can be found, attention, only in the notes of rare travelers. The era of the Internet has equalized everyone, and travel agencies compete in sophisticated methods of "Promotion" of branded objects of the republic. Why, in this case, does the sandalwood buddha remain a shrine of local significance, unlike, say, the imperishable body of itigelov, the pilgrimage to which is already gaining international scope?

To answer this question, we need to figure out whether the Buddha statue kept in the Egitui datsan is so unique and sacred. In recent years, two serious scientific works about it have been published by the Czech religious scholar Lubos Belka and the well-known St. Petersburg Buddhist figure Andrey Terentyev. Much of what will be said in this article is drawn from these works.

The Story of the Wanderings of the Sandalwood Buddha.

The Buddhist legendary tradition claims that the sandalwood image of Shakyamuni Buddha was made in heaven, where the Buddha miraculously moved in order to teach the teachings of his mother, who was reborn as a goddess. The ruler of one of the small Indian states of that time, Raja Udayana, yearned for the disappeared teacher and ordered several sculptors to go to heaven and sculpt an exact copy of him there. Buddha liked the statue, and after his return to earth, he declared it his deputy. Subsequently, for two and a half thousand years, the sandalwood Buddha wandered around Asia. In the III century. the statue comes from India to China, from where, in turn, it was transported to Central Asia, to the city of Kucha, the capital of the state of the ancient Indo-Europeans Yuezhi. Later, the statue may have traveled to Tibet, where a copy was made of it, which Tibetan Buddhists consider their main shrine. Another copy of the sandalwood buddha was taken to Japan, where it is still kept in one of the temples in Kyoto. The statue was worshiped by Khubilai Khan, on whose instructions the sandalwood Buddha was delivered to Khanbalik by Marco Polo himself. The famous statue of a standing Buddha in the Afghan Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban, is also an enlarged copy of it. Finally, Zandan Zhuu found a temporary home in Beijing, where he became the main treasure of the Manchu imperial court.

Burning Beijing.

The year 1900 became catastrophic for the decrepit Qing empire. Outraged by the aggressive colonial policy of the European powers and Japan, Chinese peasants and artisans began to unite in detachments and sack the embassy quarters. Russia was among 8 other powers that suffered from the actions of the rebels, and attached its troops to the foreign punitive contingent. As a result, the punishers broke into the capital and looted the imperial quarter of Beijing - the forbidden city. Europeans plundered palaces and, covering their tracks, burned them. The recollection of one of the eyewitnesses of the robbery has been preserved: "soldiers, buried with their heads in chests of red lacquer, delved into the things of the empress, others stirred up piles of brocade and silks, who put them in their pockets or simply poured rubies, sapphires, pearls, rock crystal into a shirt or cap who hung themselves with precious pearl necklaces. They pulled clocks from fireplaces, removed clocks from walls; sappers wielded axes, splitting furniture into chips to select the precious stones that were inlaid with palace chairs. One of them tried very hard to cut a lovely clock in the style of Louis XV to extract the dial, on which the crystal numbers sparkled; he imagined that they were diamonds" (ref.

Operation Emergency Evacuation.

The same fate awaited the temple of the sandalwood buddha with its precious contents. However, the Buryat Cossacks from the Trans-Baikal Cossack army, who were part of the Russian contingent, managed to secretly take the statue out of the city at the request of the Mongolian lamas. For several years they were taking her to Buryatia. The operation was coordinated by the head of the postal service of the Russian embassy, Nikolai Gomboev, the notorious and ubiquitous Agvan Dorzhiev, and the rector of the Egitui datsan, Lama Zodboev. As reported in the studies: "It was carried on a sledge, covered with Straw, Mat, disguised with Food and Postal Requisites" (link. When the statue was brought to Buryatia, it was decided to place it in a remote datsan so as not to attract undue attention to it. The Russian authorities have no idea did not know about the daring act of the Buryat Cossacks, and if they knew, they would probably regard it as a dangerous malfeasance.The operation did not go beyond the "Buryat Circle".

Floating statue.

The sandalwood Buddha statue is an image of Shakyamuni Buddha, 2 meters 18 centimeters high, along with a small pedestal. Contrary to the name, the statue itself, as the analysis showed, is made of linden and covered with a layer of sandalwood paste on top. There is evidence that the upper part of the head of the Zandan - Zhuu was originally decorated with a Ruby or a diamond, and the relics of the Buddha were placed inside the statue. These valuable artifacts were probably stolen in 1935 when the statue was transported from Egita to Ulan-Ude. Tradition also claims that the statue does not rest on a pedestal, but, as it were, soars in the air a hair's breadth from it. Therefore, it is supposedly possible to verify its authenticity by passing a silk thread between the soles of the feet and the base. However, such a check was not carried out, as well as a full-fledged scientific analysis of the age of the wood. And this is despite the fact that the statue was kept for some time in the Hodegetriev Museum, which served as a museum depository, and under restoration in the Hermitage. In the 80s of the last century, the statue was returned to the Egitui datsan.

China demands the return of shrines.

When visiting the departments of Far Eastern art in the Louvre or the British Museum, you can see ancient porcelain vases and panels that came there as a result of the sacking of the Forbidden City in 1900. China has long been demanding the return of valuables from Western countries and Japan. Only in the event that an agreement fails, the Chinese authorities and big business redeem the lost items at auctions. So, to date, about 200 units have been bought for a total of 33 million US dollars (link. It is a matter of honor for the PRC government to restore the forbidden city in its previous form and close the shameful page in the history of its country. This, however, is only a drop in the ocean, since the number such exhibits, according to some estimates, equals one and a half million.China understands this and aims to return at least the most valuable.

Strange situation.

In the case of the sandalwood buddha, the situation is strange, if not insoluble. In fact, in this story, the Buryats cheated both China, leaving it without a masterpiece of world significance, and Russia, which will have to solve this problem if the authorities of a neighboring power pay attention to it. Officially in China, it is believed that the sandalwood Buddha statue burned down along with the temple in which it was kept. But how many masterpieces, considered irretrievably lost, returned to their owners?

In 2003, the Buddhist traditional sangha of Russia recognized the Zandan-zhuu statue as one of the three Buddhist shrines in Russia. However, at the federal level, the recognition of the Egitui shrine as a genuine monument of Buddhist art, exported from China, faces issues of cultural diplomacy.

Traveling not over?

One of my St. Petersburg colleagues once suggested that it is neither in the interests of Buryatia nor in the interests of Russia to promote the issue of the sandalwood Buddha in the media. Sooner or later, this will lead to the fact that the PRC will send its experts and demand the return of the shrine to Beijing. But, on the other hand, such progress has already begun. The studies of Belka and Terentyev that I mentioned were written in English and are probably already known to our Chinese colleagues.

Is the zandan-zhuu destined to remain a shrine of local significance, "Internal Buryat Affairs" or will the issue of the sandalwood buddha ever be on the agenda of Russian-Chinese relations? One thing is clear, the sandalwood Buddha statue is a hostage to the situation, which means that its wanderings are not yet completed. (C) Nikolai Tsyrempilov.