State religious policy towards Buddhism in the Buryat ASSR in 1950-1960s

The article discusses the relationship between the state and religion through the example of Buryat ASSR in the 1950s and 1960s. Starting from the very first legislative acts after the October Revolution of 1917 and up to the 1980s the state paid great attention to religion. Decree on Land nationalized all the lands belonging to the clergy and confiscated all property. In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a mass destruction of churches and datsans, only one church functioned in the republic and there was no a single datsan. Unlike churches, the premises of datsans were wooden and could be easily destroyed; the premises of churches were used for other purposes. At the same time, special Resolutions prohibited administrative pressure from closing and banning religious societies, infringing on believers in any way. But at the same time, the state did not encourage the opening of new churches, datsans. An exception was made only to the Ivolginsky datsan, which was opened in 1946 and became the center of Buddhism in the country, the only one for many years. The state policy towards religion was ambiguous, it was outlaw, but it was actually destroyed in first years of Soviet power. Later, what was left of it was subjected to serious restrictions and control by the state. Buddhism was no exception, despite the opening of a datsan and the creation of the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhists of the USSR.