Modi offers sacred 'Urga Kanjur' text to Buddhist Temple head priest in Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday presented over 100 volumes of 'Urga Kanjur' to the head priest of the Datsan Gunzechoinei Buddhist Temple in St. Petersberg. 'Urga Kanjur' is a sacred Tibetan Buddhist text.

"PM presents Urga Kanjur to Jampa Donor, Buda Balzheivich Badmayev, Head Priest, Datsan Gunzechoinei Buddhist Temple, St Petersburg," Office of the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

PM presents Urga Kanjur to Jampa Donor, Buda Balzheivich Badmayev, Head Priest, Datsan Gunzechoinei Buddhist Temple, St Petersburg. pic.twitter.com/TINSiWKCDH

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 2, 2017

Preserv'g rich heritage of Russia's connect w Indian philology. PM @narendramodi is shown rare manuscripts at d Inst of Oriental Manuscripts pic.twitter.com/YDmpctWBg6

— Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 2, 2017

Modi, who is on an official visit to Russia, met President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The Urga edition of the Tibetan Kanjur was unknown till 1955 when Professor Raghu Vira brought to India its complete set of 104 volumes with a volume containing the catalogue. It was presented to him by Mongolian prime minister as a unique bibliographic rarity. On the second day of his Russia visit, Modi visited Institute of Oriental Manuscripts. He also left a message in Gujarati language at the institute, said a tweet by the Indian Embassy in Moscow.

The institute consists of manuscripts and early printed books consisting of more than 100 thousand items in 65 living and dead languages. It also has the archives of the Orientalists that contains some valuable documents on the history of the Oriental Studies in Russia. It has manuscripts and xylographs. He also met Tigran Sargasyan, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission and former Prime Minister of Armenia. India and Russia on Thursday agreed on early commencement of negotiations for a free trade agreement with the five- nation Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).