On November 24-25, 2008, the Roerich Readings were held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In his opening remarks, Deputy V. M. Alpatov, Director of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, congratulated the participants on the opening of the readings - one of the most permanent conferences of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which has been held regularly since 1960. He noted the breadth of topics presented at the readings of reports covering almost all areas of humanitarian knowledge-philosophy, philology, history, ethnography. E. D. Ogneva (Lutsk, Ukraine) made a presentation on "Vajrawali Mandalas in the collection of the Odessa Museum". She told about thirteen mandalas kept in the museum's sacred painting collection. The inscriptions placed on their reverse side indicate that they were created on the basis of the treatise " Dortreng "(Tib. rdor-phreng), or " Vajravali "(Skt. vajravali). Mandalas and their components are described in detail in "Nishpannayogavali" (Skt. nishpannayogavali). The author of both works is Abhayakaragupta (XI-XII centuries). There is also an abridged version as edited by Avgan Lobsang-choydan (1642-1714), zhangzha hutukhta of the 1st head of the Beijing Buddhist Center at the Qing Court. The question of what text served as the basis for creating mandalas requires additional research. So far, it has only been possible to establish that the numbering indicated on the mandalas does not correspond to the text of the latest version. D. N. Lelyukhin (IB RAS) in his report "Goshthi (guthi) in the inscriptions of the Lichchavas" analyzed the earliest information about local councils - goshthas in Nepal, which is contained in the gift certificates of the Lichchavas, the rulers of the kingdom in the Kathmandu Valley. Although there are relatively few references to goshta in them, he believes, it is possible to judge with a sufficien ... Read more