Temple - Datsan Gunzechoinei
During the 2024/2025 winter break, the director of the foreign affairs department of the Repin Academy invited students of different nationalities to create paintings of the Buddhist temple called Datsan Gunzechoinei in St. Petersburg. This experience was unique, as it allowed me to learn about a new religion and its liturgical rites, which were different from those I was accustomed to in Brazil, as well as to meet other foreign students who also study painting and sculpture.
We carried out our work on weekends and had free access to the temple facilities to choose our compositions. Furthermore, we went to a second temple facility located a bit further from the city center. This new facility is still under construction but looks promising.
Moreover, Datsan Gunzechoinei is consecrated as the northernmost Buddhist temple on the planet and is a monument of profound historical, artistic, and spiritual significance. Its construction, which took place between 1909 and 1915, was made possible by a special authorization from Tsar Nicholas II, intended to meet the spiritual needs of the Buddhist communities of the Russian Empire, primarily of Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvan origin, who resided in the capital. The architectural project was primarily led by Gavril Baranovsky, a specialist in Eastern aesthetics, resulting in a fascinating fusion of traditional Buddhist elements with Russian structural robustness, even using Karelian granite.
One of the most notable artistic aspects of the temple is its stunning stained-glass windows, the conception of which is attributed to the prolific and visionary artist Nicholas Roerich. Roerich left his unique mark, creating a play of light and color that transcends mere decoration, incorporating deep symbolism and transforming the interior space into an environment of rare beauty and mysticism. The history of the Datsan, however, is marked by chapters of great adversity. Inaugurated in 1915, it had little time to function fully before being violently closed after the Russian Revolution. During the Soviet era, the temple was desecrated, looted, and converted to secular uses, serving as a military radio station and a zoological laboratory, which led to the loss of many of its sacred artifacts.
The rebirth of the Datsan began only at the twilight of the Soviet Union, with its official return to the Buddhist faithful in 1990. Since then, it has undergone a meticulous and ongoing restoration process to recover its original splendor. Today, much more than a place of worship, Datsan Gunzechoinei is a vibrant center of culture, education, and interreligious dialogue. Housing an imposing statue of Buddha and numerous thangkas, the temple is a living testament to the resilience of faith and a cultural heritage that survived the darkest periods of history.
About Nicholas Roerich:
Nicholas Roerich was a Russian artist and jurist who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries and was acclaimed for his ideas and philosophy. During his lifetime, he created several important works of art and witnessed the destruction of cultural heritage in world and regional conflicts. Within this context, Nicholas's idea to create a Pact stemmed from his perception of the importance of a legal text for the protection of historical and artistic heritage as a means of preservation for future generations. His experience as an artist and jurist made him realize that works of art could only be protected during wars and conflicts if there was a treaty or international convention that was enacted and respected by other countries. Only with the commitment of other nations could one think about preserving cultural heritage during conflicts and wars.
There are few people in the world who advocate for something so noble and that seeks to benefit humanity. They usually have a broader worldview, projecting plans in the present so that future generations can reap their fruits. In addition to a broad vision, it is also necessary to be deeply in tune with society's yearnings, employing philosophical concepts willing to preserve the past as a way of safeguarding memories. In this sense, these are the elements that led Nicholas Roerich to carry out such a project.
It is interesting to note that the Roerich Pact, beyond its symbolic nature, is as important as other treaties and international conventions enacted by different countries, such as the International Labour Organization's Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José, Costa Rica). Drawing a parallel between these legal texts, to which Brazil is a signatory country, one notes that all seek to guarantee and ensure the right to preservation and access to humanity's cultural heritage. On one hand, ILO Convention 169 secures culture in the present, as a way to guarantee traditional indigenous peoples the exercise and preservation of their cultural productions. The Pact of San José seeks to guarantee access to culture to preserve the right to human integrity. Alongside these treaties, the Roerich Pact seeks to ensure the integrity of artistic artifacts during conflicts or wars to preserve their memory and humanity's culture.
The message that Nicholas Roerich brought is important for any artist who takes their work seriously. Everyone seeks to convey a message in such a way that they wish for their works to cross time intact to reach future generations. In this sense, the preservation of monuments and works of art during conflicts and wars is of fundamental importance.
The ability of human beings to become more intelligent is related to the number of experiences they have as memories, whether lived by the person themselves, accounts transmitted by others, or through books or images. This is where the role of the visual artist becomes truly important, as they are the ones who create images that will form the population's imagination. In this sense, artists have a relevant impact on humanity's consciousness, as they influence people's thinking.
