Time code in the Kalmyk buddhist calendar: cycles and future predictions
https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2025-5-4-122-131
Abstract
The phenomenon of time as a cyclical process has long fascinated people. The relevance of studying concepts of time from a comparative typological perspective is due to the paucity of research on the Buddhist calendar, the complexity of the problematic, and the practical needs of modern society. This study continues the author’s work on the Kalmyk Buddhist worldview, particularly its understanding of time. Although typological features exist, the category of time is represented differently across cultures and languages, revealing the nature of an ethnic group’s worldview and value system. From a Buddhist perspective, there is no primordial time. Time is a projection of the mind. The traditional Kalmyk calendar, based on the lunisolar calendar, comprises a twelve-year animal cycle and a sixty-year calendar system. Today, Kalmyks use the pan-European Gregorian calendar but celebrate their national holidays and calendar rituals according to the Kalmyk calendar. This article examines the basic nominal designations of time periods and their representation in religious (Buddhist) and folkloric texts (the Kalmyk heroic epic “Dzhangar”). The texts under consideration most comprehensively express Kalmyk conceptions of time, combining philosophical and linguistic cultural understanding, spiritual and religious understanding, as well as moral and aesthetic evaluation. The greatest precision in temporal orientation is achieved through conceptual terminology; therefore, nominal designations of time periods are considered.
Keywords
Temporality,
Buddhist worldview,
calendar,
phenomena of the future,
predictions,
prayer texts,
Kalmyk epic “Dzhangar”,
nominal temporalities.
Supporting agencies: This article was prepared as part of a state assignment from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (No. 075-03-2025-420/6 “A Compre- hensive Philosophical Study of the Phenomenon of the Future in the Traditional Buddhist Worldview”).
About the Author
E. U. Omakaeva
Kalmyk State University named after B. B. Gorodovikov
Россия
Россия
Ellara U. Omakaeva, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
Elista
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Review
For citations:
Omakaeva E.U. Time code in the Kalmyk buddhist calendar: cycles and future predictions. Nomadic civilization: historical research. 2025;5(4):122-131. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2025-5-4-122-131
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