Collection of Manuscripts in Oirat in Ulan-Khol khurul of Kalmykia

Abstract

This article presents a brief overview of the collection of manuscripts in the Oirat language stored in the fund of the Ulan-Khol Temple of the Republic of Kalmykia. The collection under consideration is relatively small (50 manuscripts), but it contains very interesting materials. The manuscripts of the Ulan-Khol Temple were a part of a significant collection of Buddhist writings in Tibetan, Old Mongolian and Oirat in the library of the Shars-Bagut (Northern) Temple, which was located from 1889 to 1939 in the area of Bora, Shars-Bagut aimak located in Erketenevsky ulus. The manuscripts were transferred to the Ulan-Khol Temple by relatives of the clergymen Bodgur Ochirov (1892-1955) and Tsagan Atkhaev (1900-1981). The collection seems to be extremely heterogeneous: it includes fiction literature works, orders, prophecies, ritual texts, prayers, astrological works, texts of divination, weather signs and traditional folk medicine texts. Some collections contain texts in Oirat with Tibetan inclusions as well as ones in Tibetan with Oirat interlinear. The fact proves Kalmyk monks were equally fluent in Tibetan and Oirat. The heterogeneity of the composition of the manuscript collection of the Ulan-Khol khurul indicates that the monks of the Shars-Bagut Temple in their main practice were not only clergymen, but also astrologers, soothsayers, healers. The presented texts are a valuable source for studying traditional religious beliefs, philosophy, ethics, old written Kalmyk literature, astrology and Kalmyk cult rituals.