Nadezhda was born in Rostov oblast in 1957. She says that in her father’s family girls died young, and when her mother was giving birth to Nadezhda a lama called Garya, who had received Buddhist education at the Cheerya Khurul in Kalmykia, was reading prayers for a successful labor. Hence at home Nadezhda was called Garya in honour of the monk. She was officially named Nadezhda because her midwife had this name. Nadezhda has two younger sisters and a brother. The children grew up listening to Kalmyk fairy tales and legends that their mother told them.