Museum of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

About museum

The Museum of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS (formerly known as the Museum of Kalmyk Traditional Culture named after Zaya-Pandita) was founded on the basis of the memorial study-museum of Zaya-Pandita Ogtorguyn Dal Namkhai Gyatso, an outstanding educator and founder of the national script todo-bichig. It was officially opened on September 15, 1999, in honor of three anniversaries: the 400th anniversary of Zaya-Pandita’s birth, the 350th anniversary of the todo-bichig script, and the 390th anniversary of the voluntary incorporation of the Kalmyk people into Russia. The museum’s official opening as an academic institution took place on September 5, 2000, on the Day of the National Todo-Bichig Script. With the support of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation, a project was funded to create a permanent exhibition at the Kalmyk Institute of Humanities Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The museum currently houses exhibits that introduce the history of Kalmykia and its national heritage. The museum has two halls: an ethnographic hall and the Hall of the History of Kalmykia.