Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the Buddhist history of Ulan-Ude, asking how the changing socio-political context of a diverse city is shaping Buddhist identity, belonging, and practice.

Paper long abstract:

Buryat Buddhism is tightly linked with the rural milieu. The connection between religious practice and the countryside is deeply embedded in ritual, narrative, as well as history. While Buryats were previously mostly nomadizing herders, over the 20th century much of the Buryat population has moved to the capital city Ulan-Ude. Buddhism today is thriving under the newly urban conditions, but many of its historical, ritual and ideological threads still link it to the previously rural context. Ulan-Ude, the capital city of Buryatia, has been through waves of change: the city was established in the late 17th century in Russian colonisation but was previously a Buryat nomadic gathering point. Over the 20th century, Buryats were forced to settle and many moved to the then-Russian city. In the post-Soviet period as religion resurged across Russia, a Buryat Buddhist presence has been widely felt in the capital. In a multi-ethnic city that Ulan-Ude is, this strong presence of an ethnic-religious group is a consequential identity statement as well as a religious necessity. This paper explores the Buddhist history of Ulan-Ude, asking how the changing socio-political context of a diverse city is shaping Buddhist identity, belonging, and practice.