The Situation of Buddhists Buryatia in the Context of the Liberalization of Soviet Religious Policy

Based on the materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia, the article examines the activities of the Buddhists of Buryatia in the second half of the 1980s. The purpose of the study is to determine the position of the Buddhists of the Buryat ASSR in the context of changes in the religious policy of the USSR during the period of “perestroika”. The paper shows that the Buddhists of the Buryat ASSR showed a tendency to expand their religious activities due to a number of factors. First, the Buddhist clergy has significantly rejuvenated, which, in addition to religious activities, has begun to play an active role in the socio-political life of the country and the region. Secondly, analyzing the financial and ceremonial activities of the Ivolginsky Datsan, the only registered religious association of the Buddhist religion in the territory of the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, we can conclude that by the end of the 1980s it showed a tendency to expand in a number of quantitative indicators. Thirdly, the religious policy of the Soviet state during the period of “reconstruction” influenced the increasing role of religion in the Buryat ASSR. The control of religious associations by the authorized Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was rather inertial, without hindering their activities in any way.