Maria Lidzhigoryaeva, Religion: Practitioners, Rituals and Beliefs

Abstract

Maria talks about her uncle (who was a lama), a clan ritual and a ritual to prolong one’s life. My paternal uncle was called Mandzhiev Badma Gedeevich. He was born in 1890 in a place called Ondr Arm. I keep his photo, that I cut from a newspaper, on my altar. He was exiled to Siberia like all other Kalmyks. From Siberia he came to live in the village of Tsagan Aman where he healed people. He was a powerful lama. He was short, well built, and had a beard. He served at the Tsagan Aman Temple. I went to see him often. He gave my children amulets and advised them on various things. One day I decided to see him again. Upon hearing this from me, a woman whom I knew asked me to bring water from my uncle. At that time, I did not know that she was a healer herself. When my uncle looked at the water, he immediately told me that that woman was a healer. When you go to see such lamas, you need to have pure intentions and hide nothing. Anyway, such people can see what and who you are. Women should not come to temples wearing trousers. By doing so, they challenge the dignity of men. When you receive a blessing from a lama, join the palms of your hands together and bow. One day another uncle of mine, Muchka Nadbitov, slept for 3 days. It was lethargic sleep. When he woke up, he told us that he could see what others could not. He did not return from Siberia. Today people perform fire rituals by sacrificing animals. We do not do sacrifices. Instead we make a raft, put candies and biscuits on it, and send the raft to float on the water. In order to prolong one’s life, we bind a red ribbon around a sheep’s neck and set it free.