РУАЭСТ (RUAEST)
Religion and Cultural Interaction in the Republic of Buryatia
The paper discusses the processes of interaction between religious groups and institutions in post soviet Buryatia in the context of a religious revival in Russia. The authors argue that swift return of religiosity from periphery to the center of social practices results rather from the ideological reasons then radical worldview change. Religious belonging as the principal marker of ethnocultural identity promotes growing interest in Buddhism and Shamanism among Buryats, while ethnic Russians feel their deep ties with Russian Orthodoxy. Simultaneously, common regional cultural text that has been created for centuries still supports a kind of syncretic belief that is maintained by indistinct religious representations. In its turn, this situation strengthens interethnic consent and tolerance.