Khosheutovsky khurul

Khosheutovsky khurul (Russian: Хошеу́товский хуру́л) is a Buddhist monastery of the early 19th century and an architectural and historical monument of federal significance.

[6] The construction of the Khosheutovsky khurul was initiated by the owner of the Khosheutovsky ulus, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Lieutenant Colonel Serebdzhab Tyumen [ru], who wanted to build a memorial complex in memory of the Kalmyks who participated in the war;[7] The monk Gavan Chombe became Tyumen's consultant.

Eventually, the gallery and small towers of the khurul were deconstructed, for the local kolkhoz was in need for bricks to build a cowshed in the 1960s.

In the Kalmyk ASSR, in Elista, after a meeting of the organizing committee held on October 23, 1990, at the Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore [ru], the main scope of work on the restoration was approved, the necessary cost estimate for restoration was determined and the significance of this architectural monument was emphasized.

The league united Astrakhan Buddhists, local historians, and representatives of the Society of National Kalmyk Culture in the fight for the preservation of the khurul.

A lithograph by an unknown artist from 1868 shows that both nomadic khuruls had stone syumes[a] built for them, located to the left and right of the main building.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery complex, in addition to the main building and the syume of the nomadic khuruls, included a mani (a chapel with a prayer wheel, Kalmyk: кюрдэ, romanized: kyurde), several stupas, a court chapel of a Noyan and the dwellings of servants.

[6] By the beginning of the 21st century, only the chapel and the central building remained from the monastery complex; the galleries extending from it were also lost.

Khosheutovsky khurul - lithograph by an unknown artist from the 1840s
Khosheutovsky khurul before restoration works began in 2010
The khurul as seen from the Volga after restoration
Lithograph of the khurul; around the end of the 19th - beginning of 20th century