Dandaronova mandala : Vizualizace alternativní religiozity v Burjatsku ve 20. století
| Title in English | Dandaron’s Mandala : Visualization of Alternative Religiosity in Twentieth Century Buryatia |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Article in Periodical (without peer review) |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The subject of this article is a single image—a thangka, that is, a Tibetan scroll painting on canvas—which can be understood only within its historical and religious context. It may be approached in two distinct ways: either devotionally, that is, from the perspective of religious practice, or analytically, from the standpoint of the academic study of religion. This article adopts the latter approach. It begins by explaining what a thangka represents within Tibetan Buddhism in general and then proceeds to describe one particular example. The next section focuses on the life and work of Bidija D. Dandaron, a Buryat Buddhist and scholar of Buddhism to whom the thangka is dedicated. He constitutes its central figure, and the religious image could not have come into being without him. The painting, however, does not depict only B. D. Dandaron; it also includes other figures closely associated with him. The literature relevant to this topic comprises both primary sources—religious texts—and secondary sources of various kinds, ranging from scholarly studies to non academic and sometimes even popular accounts. Produced both during Dandaron’s lifetime and after his death, these materials reflect a remarkable phenomenon: the emergence of a religious cult, figuratively speaking, before our very eyes and in real time. This is a unique occurrence, and it is significant that its visual dimension also plays an important role. In this case, photographs become sacred objects in their own right, in a manner analogous to the thangka discussed above. |
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