Culture of Buryatia

Culture of Buryatia represents cultures of people of Asia and Europe. It started to form at the same time with the development of Zabaikalye region. Many tribes and ethnic groups have contributed to this culture, replacing each other during thousands of years. This culture includes cultural values, ideals and norms of nomadic civilization, northern forest hunters, and European tribes. These cultures became closely bound, which reflects in life, habits, public moral and art. Different religions were mixed into one, the same thing happened with culture. At the same time main features of national cultures remained the same.
National cultures.
One of the most interesting cultures of Buryatia is the culture of its native people - the Buryats. The major part of the culture belongs to the Buddhist tradition brought to Buryatia from Tibet and Mongolia. The Buddhist doctrine includes philosophy, Tibetan medicine and astrology, Buddhist painting. Writing and publishing were developed in Buryatia on this basis. Nikolay Rerih (a famous Russian philosopher, scientist and artist) made a great contribution to the development of relations between Buryatia with Tibet.
Forest hunters – the Evenks, have lived in Zabaikalye since long time ago, despite strong influence of other cultures, have managed to keep their culture. Nowadays the original culture of the Evenks revives.
The culture of the Russians in Buryatia has kept traditional features due to, first of all, one of the representatives of Russian population - Semeiskiye (Old Believers). Zabaikalian Cossacks culture is also very peculiar.

The modern culture of Buryatia

Current culture of Buryats is represented in its literature, opera, ballet, theater, cinema, musical, sculpture, painting, circus. National art of other ethnic groups living in Buryatia is represented by folklore ensembles of Koreans, Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Poles, Germans, and Ukrainians. National cultural centres and associations work in Buryatia.
The most interesting samples of art and culture are exhibited in museums, you can see classical and modern art presented in theatres, clubs, Buryat state philarmonic orchestra.
The culture of Buryatia is always developing, but still preserves the heritage of the previous times.
 

Culture of the Buryat people

One of the most interesting part of Buryat culture is philosophical ideas about the world essence and human’s place in it. It is expressed in Buryat shamanism and mythology. One of the most outstanding samples of mythology is the heroic epos "Abai Gesser" created more than a thousand years ago.
Folklore has absorbed plenty of Buryat fairy tales, legends, proverbs and sayings, uligers (tales), songs, dances, throat singing, which is also a significant part of Buryat culture.
Big part of Buryat culture is represented with traditions of household culture that were established by nomadic way of life. Many of them are still interesting and fit modern way of life. The Buryat houses, cuisine, family traditions, customs, such holidays as Sagaalgan and Surkharban, national games, calendar, horoscope, wishes-yurols, costumes, ornaments color are elements of the most valuable cultural heritage. Ideas about special place of the sacred land near Baikal and people living here have been reflected in all these forms. Traditional art craft of the Buryats, such as weaving from horsehair, blacksmith and jewelry have developed under the influence of these ideas. Life of nomads in constant movement and wars, became the basis for the development of the Buryat military arts.
Language of the Buryat people, having undergone influence of other languages, nevertheless, has not lost its structure, agility and expressiveness. Nowadays it is the second official language in the Republic.
The culture of the Buryat people is gradually becoming known in Russia and other countries. It is promoted by the vigorous activity of the Buryat people and societies of the Buryat culture which exist in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev, Irkutsk, China, Mongolia, America, Europe, Australia and other countries.