Paper short abstract:

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of village Okunevo in Siberia, which is during last twenty years been in centre of different religious activities. The example of Okunevo shows how some old religious ideas have obtained new life.

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of Okunevo. This small Siberian village is situated on the bank of the river Tara about 250 kilometres north of Omsk. Okunevo was so small and unnoticed place that there was not even a chapel, before in 1992 Latvian origin Radzhni (actually Rasma Rozite) arrived upon the scene. She had a mission from her mythical guru Haidakhan Babaji to find the location of ancient Hanuman temple. Toponyms Om and Tara leaded Radzhni in the vicinity of Okunevo. She had some visions when she camped near the village, so she decided it would be the right place. Radzhni stayed in the village and founded there ashram. Elderly village women were happy because there was a sacred place in their village since then. Rumors began to spread soon that deep under the village is buried ancient temple with mysterious "crystal of thought", that five small lakes in the neighbourhood were originated by a meteorite fallen from Sirius, and therefore the water has miraculous properties. Okunevo became a pilgrimage destination. In addition to Shri Babaji disciples the place was discovered by the Russian Orthodox Church, by the Old Believers and by Neo-Pagans. It is also popular among all kinds of extrasenses and esoteric tourists. The producers of well known Russian vodka "Pyat ozer" [Five lakes] also benefit from the legends connected with Okunevo.

It is said, that everything new is actually well forgotten old. In the paper I try to show some roots of the Okunevo phenomenon.