Ritual of Making Offerings to the Masters and Protectors of Land

Kalmyks who today live in Bantir village of Astrakhan oblast’ in the past lived in a village called Dambur that was disbanded after the deportation of Kalmyks in 1943. In 2017 a stupa of Enlightenment was built in that historical place, where people perform rituals. This video shows a ritual of offering to Buddhas and spiritual masters of land in Bantir village. The ritual begins with the address of the villagers, who participated in the construction of the stupa, to the people present at the ritual. The ritual begins with prayers read by a Tibetan monk named Jampa, including Gyunchak sumpa (an everyday triple prayer), Kyabdo semked shukso (refuge and bodhicitta prayer), Gaden lkhagyama (a prayer-appeal to Lama Tsongkapa) and texts of offerings to spiritual protectors of locality. Then the lama offers a bowl of vodka to the fierce protectors of Buddhism and local spirits. Food offerings are put in one container, including three ‘white foodstuffs’ (milk, sour cream, cottage cheese); three ‘sweet foodstuffs’ (candies, biscuits and honey). Then the offerings are thrown into a fire made from logs that were not part of household implements. Since the recipients of the food are spiritual beings, such as ghosts, local spirits and masters of land, there is a belief that more smoke produces more food. That is, the more smoke, the better. If spirits are satisfied with the offerings, it is believed that they stop harming people and livestock by sending illnesses or misfortunes. Instead, they help the livestock, multiply game animals and send rain. The ritual ends with a prayer to all living beings. Several people stay until the fire goes out by itself, while the rest of the participants go to a concert and lunch.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi