Born in the 11th century in India, the legend of Shambhala 1 crossed the borders of many countries and cultures - almost all of them by the beginning of the 21st century. What is the secret and charm of Shambhala? What is behind this magic word? What gave the legend of the mysterious country such a long and rich life? This legend has made a true journey through time and space and is on the threshold of its millennium, remaining in demand in the East and arousing increasing interest in the West. This essay examines the current interpretation of the ancient legend in the changing modern world on the example of two traditional regions of its distribution: Buryatia and Tibet. A. STRELKOV Candidate of Historical Sciences The modern existence of the legend of Shambhala in the traditional regions of its distribution is characterized by a bizarre mixture of traditional features and introduced innovations in the text of the legend. We will look at its existence in Buryatia (the main traditional place of distribution of this legend on the territory of Russia) and in Tibet (the first and main country that received this legend from India) during the last three decades, when this confusion became most pronounced. Buryatia. Until the end of the 20th century, the Buryat lamas of the older generation retained traditional book ideas about the sacred land of Shambhala. These ideas are based on the Buddhist teaching Kalachakra2, which originated in India at the beginning of the XI century and is the latest of the Buddhist tantras3. According to the Kalachakra Tantra texts, the king of Shambhala Suchandra and his entourage were petitioners for her first sermon from Shakyamuni Buddha. Tradition dates this event back to 881 B.C. 4 and believes that Suchandra brought this teaching to his country to this day, and that it was from there that it reached India at the beginning of the eleventh century through one or more Indian Buddhist yogis. Thus, the legend of Shambhala is intended to prove ... Read more