Ivolginsky Datsan
building in Republic of Buryatia, Russia
Ivolginsky Datsan (Russian: Иволгинский дацан) is the center of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia. It is a Buddhist temple located in Buryatia, Russia, 23 km from Ulan-Ude, near Verkhnyaya Ivolga village.
The spiritual activity of the datsan is manifested in temple rites, medical practice, and a traditional system of Buddhist education.
History
The datsan opened in 1945 as the only Buddhist spiritual centre of the USSR. Its name was changed from Khambin Sume (Хамбинское Сумэ) to the Monastic Centre (Средняя Иволга).
It was the residence of the Central Spiritual Board of Buddhists of the USSR and later of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia, as well as that of Pandido Khambo lama, the head of the Russian Buddhists. The Dashi Choinkhorling Buddhist university was opened in 1991 attached to the datsan.
Culture
Although built in the late 1940s with light-colored brick, the [main] temple displays traditional proportions and ornamentation. The first level is devoted to study and prayer. The second level preserves sacred texts. The third level, the gonkan, serves as an inner sanctum devoted to the guardian deities.
“Ivolginsky Datsan” enters the record as building in Republic of Buryatia, Russia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ivolginsky, Datsan and building can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1676082. VIAF identifies the subject as 441164418894820231353. The Library of Congress control number is no2003033975. Authority coordinates are 51.759, 107.203. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945 and 1991.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ivolginsky Datsan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.