Datsan

Datsan (, , ; derived from ) is the term used for Buddhist university monasteries in the Tibetan tradition of Gelukpa located throughout Mongolia, Tibet and Siberia. As a rule, in a datsan there are two departments—philosophical and medical. Sometimes  a department of tantric practices is added to them where the monks study only after finishing education in the philosophical department. 

In pre-revolutionary Russia, datsans traditionally existed only in the Buryat territories, most of those now included in Buryatia and Transbaikalia (a number of datsans there have been reconstructed or newly established since the early 1990s). There was a difference with Tibetan administrative idea: in Tibet, several datsans were education-centered parts of larger organizations, as Drepung, Ganden, and Sera Monastery in Gelukpa tradition. In Russia, datsans were not parts of a larger entity, but rather independent educational and religious centers. In Buryat Buddhism, the terms "Buddhist monastery" and "Datsan" are interchangeable, as other monastery organization forms found in Tibetan Buddhism elsewhere, were not present.

List of datsans in Mongolia
Manba Datsan (also "Mamba Datsan")

List of datsans in Russia
Datsans were officially acknowledged in Imperial Russia in 1741. By statute of 1853 there were two recognized datsans in the Irkutsk government and others in the Zabaykalsky government. The first datsan in Europe was Datsan Gunzechoinei in St. Petersburg.

Before the Communist Revolution in 1917, there were 40 datsans (not counting smaller temples —  sume). After the revolution, the number went up to 48, but between 1927 and 1938 all  datsans that existed in Buryatia and Transbaikalia were closed or destroyed. The Second World War, that followed shortly after, became another turning point for the Buddhists in Buryatia: despite the suppression by the communist government, the Buryat Buddhist community came together in 1944 and collected financial aids to support the communist state and the Red Army in their struggles against Nazi Germany. The communist government expressed their gratitude for the donations by giving them permission to open a Buddhist datsan in Buryatia. In 1946, the Ivolginsky datsan and the Aginsky datsan resumed operations. The following  datsans were not opened until 1991.

Khambyn Khure datsan (Улан-Удэнский Дацан Хамбын Хурэ) in Ulan-Ude
 (Ринпоче Багша дацан) in Ulan-Ude 
 Rinchin Datsan 
 (Агинский Дацан) in Aginskoye
 (Аларский дацан «Даши Чойнхорлинг») in Kutulik 
 (Атаган-Дырестуйский дацан «Лхундуб Дэчинлинг») in Dyrestuy 
 (Ацагатский дацан) in Naryn-Atsagat 
Atsaysky datsan near Lake Gusinoye 
Kurumkansky datsan (Курумканский Дацан) in Kurumkan
 (Сартул-Гэгэтуйский дацан) in Gegetuy
Egituysky datsan (Эгитуйский Дацан) in Egituy
 (Гусиноозёрский (Тамчинский) дацан) in Gusinoye Ozero 
 (Загустайский дацан «Дэчин Рабжилинг») in the Selenginsky District 
Sanaginsky datsan (Санагинский  Дацан) in Sanaga
Ivolginsky datsan (Иволгинский Дацан) in Verkhnyaya Ivolga
 (Кижингинский Дацан) in Kizhinga
Baldan Breybun datsan (Дацан Балдан Брэйбун) in Murochi
Tugnuysky datsan (Тугнуйский дацан) in Mukhorshibir
Okinsky datsan (Окинский дацан) in Orlik
Tamchinsky datsan (Тамчинский дацан) in Gusinoye Ozero
Kyrensky datsan (Кыренский дацан) in Kyren
 (Хойморский дацан) in Arshan
Ugdansky datsan (Угданский дацан)
Tseezhe-Burgaltaysky datsan (Цээжэ-Бургалтайский дацан)
Ust-Ordynsky datsan (Усть-Ордынский (Абатанатский) дацан) in Ust-Ordynsky
 (Анинский дацан) in Ana
Chesansky datsan (Чесанский дацан) in Chesan
 (Табангут-Ичётуйский дацан «Дэчен Рабжалин») in the Dzhidinsky District 
 (Цугольский дацан) in Tsugol
Saint Petersburg Tibetan Temple 
 Datsan Gunzechoinei (Дацан Гунзэчойнэй) in Saint Petersburg
 Wat Phra Dhammakaya Mocow in Moscow 
 Yakutsky datsan (Якутский дацан; дацан в Якутске) in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The northernmost Buddhist temple in the world
 (Янгажинский дацан «Даши Ширбубулин) 
  (Читинский Дацан "Дамба Брайбунлинг") in Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai

See also
List of Tibetan monasteries
Buddhism in the Russian Federation
Buddhism in Buryatia
Buddhism in Kalmykia
 Khurul, the Kalmyk equivalent of a datsan

References

External links
 (List of datsans in Buryatia, Chita and Irkutsk Oblasts)
 Official site of the Gunzechoyney datsan
 (datsans)

 
Tibetan Buddhism in Siberia
Buddhist monasteries in Russia
Buddhist education