The construction of Buddhist temples in the Russian empire in the descriptions of European travel-researchers at the end of the 18th - the beginning of the 19th century

The article is devoted to the history of the construction of the first Buddhist monasteries - datsans - in the territory of Transbaikalia. The authors consider materials of personal observations of researchers in Siberia of the 18th - the beginning of the 19th centuries, concerning the development of Buddhism in the region. The first Buddhist temples in Transbaikalia region transformed from mobile felt yurts to wooden stationary monasteries. An analysis of these materials demonstrates that Buddhist religious construction in the writings of scientists reflected the region’s ethno-cultural diversity and became the object of interaction between the emerging Buddhist community and the central government of the Russian Empire.