Siberian memory

The 28th of February is a special day of the Republic of Kalmykia commemorating the exile of the Kalmyks to Siberia by Stalin on the 28th of February 1943. This video shows the ritual conducted by the Kalmyk students studying at the Inner Mongolia University to mark the memorial event.They first got together in the kitchen of the dormitory to prepare milk tea and make butter lamp (zul) by melting a pot of butter in hollowed potatoes. Then, they bowed three times for their ancestors who died in the extreme hard temperature and of starvation during their exile in Siberia. Mergen says that the reason for making butter lamp with potato is that it is exactly what their ancestors did in Siberia praying for her early return. During the ritual, everyone washes their hands and mouths before lighting a butter lamp and bows in front of the portrait of Zaya Pandita to show their sorrow.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi