A Xara Kele Text from O. M. Dordzhiev’s Collection

Abstract

The paper examines one manuscript version of the famous ceremonial text Xara Kele that had been contained in the personal collection of the renowned Kalmyk Buddhist cleric O. M. Dordzhiev (Tügmüd Gavji). Formal characteristics of the text make it possible to date it back to the early or early-to-mid 20th century. It is noteworthy that there is a pencil note on the last page which indicates the name of the individual who had read and made use of the text when performing a ritual named ‘Cutting the Black Tongue Off’. According to the note, that gelong’s name was geshe Agvan Tabdan. The article clarifies the latter was a name used by one Kalmyk gelong ― who had received spiritual training but was later compelled to give up his monastic vows ― to sign his works and remarks. The astonishing thing is that the manuscript was discovered in Fund 15 (O. M. Dordzhiev’s collection) and not in Fund 8 that contains quite a vast collection of texts once possessed by E. B. Ubushiev.
The fact that a cleric’s name has been identified through a note he had made after a recitation of the text, on the one hand, indicates the name of that one cleric, and on the other hand, casts light upon lives and deeds of many other gelongs that even under the then atheistic policies kept performing certain rituals to support their compatriots and maintain the ancient tradition.