World culture: The unique atlas of the Tibet medicine presented in Saint-Petersburg

The exhibition of the National Museum of Buryatia “Ancient art of healing. Atlas of Tibetan Medicine” opened at the State Museum of the History of Religion in Saint-Petersburg; it is timed to the 100th anniversary of the first Buddhist prayer in the northern capital.

In Ulan-Ude is stored a set of 76 paintings from the “Atlas of Tibetan Medicine”, which is recognized by the Buddhist Traditional Sangha (church) of Russia (BTSR), one of the Buddhist shrines. The exhibition features nine highly accurate copies of the Atlas sheets and the associated ritual objects.

The tract of the XVII century is a commentary on the main textbook of Tibetan medicine “Chzhud-shi”. The Atlas was brought to the Trans-Baikal region at the end of the XIX century from the Tibetan monastery for medical students and medical practitioners. Since 1936, it is kept in a museum in Ulan-Ude. It not just a relic, but also the unique educational and illustrative material on Tibetan medicine.

The exhibition is dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first Buddhist prayer service in Saint-Petersburg, which was held by the XII head of Russia’s Buddhists Pandito Khambo Lama Itigelov. The prayer service served as a blessing for the development of a Buddhist community in the capital of the Russian Empire. The Museum of the History of Religion on May 16 hosts a round table on the value of prayer, issues of interaction of Buddhism and science.