Alexandr talks about how his family celebrated national holidays in Siberia: Since we did not have monks in Siberia, we did not know when holidays were. People could end up celebrating the same holiday several times. During Zul my grandmother made a candle from dough and lit it in front of two Buddhist tangkas that she would to take out on such occasions. My mother made biscuits. When the first stars appeared in the sky, we took out the candle and performed a ritual of nas utdulkh on the street. We prayed. The candle had several candlewicks each of which had the same number of grass stalks as the age to whom it was dedicated. During Tsagan Sar we also lit a candle and took out the tangkas. We prayed and drank tea. When we returned to Kalmykia after exile, old women celebrated holidays together. People sang songs and danced. Our grandmother wore a traditional dress on these occasions.