The opening ceremony of Tubten Shedrub Ling, the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia, took place in Tuva, Siberia on Friday, 28 April.
The main Buddhist monastery was erected at the initiative of Russian Defenсe Minister Sergey Shoigu, who was born in Tuva, on a site blessed by the 14th Dalai Lama during his only visit to Tuva on 21 September 1992.
This is the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia by area and the first in the Tuva region since the 1930s.