The vibrant heartbeat of global culture echoed through the streets of New York City on Saturday, May 16, 2026, as thousands gathered for the spectacular 20th Annual New York City Dance Parade and Festival. Among the more than 10,000 dancers, musicians, DJs, and performers who transformed Manhattan into a living stage, the dancers of the Ensemble Teegin Ais proudly represented the rich heritage of the Kalmyk people.

Discover how the spirit of the traditional Kalmyk yurt (kibitka) survives today through the epic Jangar, the Chichirdyg dance, and traditional Oirat crafts.

In 1939, on the muddy outskirts of Yugoslavia’s capital, a remarkable act of cultural survival was quietly taking place. Far from the steppes of their ancestors, a community of Kalmyk refugees gathered in the shadow of the Belgrade Khurul—the first Buddhist temple in Europe—to ensure their children would not forget who they were.

Explore rare 19th-century sketches of Kalmyk people and Oirat lamas by Vasily Vereshchagin. Discover the history and traditions preserved in these masterworks.

Recently translated from the traditional Mongolian script to Cyrillic by Doctor of History B. Natsagdorj, the following letters from 1918 offer an extraordinary glimpse into the geopolitical struggles and enduring cultural identity of the Altai Oirats (Telengits) following the collapse of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty.

The Kalmyk Heritage Center celebrates "Eejin Dun" as a vital piece of minority heritage preservation. By using modern animation to tell a story about the Kalmyk language and traditional prayer, Sarina Shurganova and her team (Screenwriter Andrey Sizov, Composer Anton Smirnov, and Sound Designer Viktor Romanov) are ensuring our traditions reach a global audience.

Discover the incredible lineage of the late Princess Deveenyamuu, tracing Oirat Mongolian history from modern America back to Ubashi Khan and the era of Genghis Khan.

The illustrations come from a book that presents a concise retelling of the songs of the Kalmyk epic Jangar, a cornerstone of Kalmyk oral tradition that celebrates heroism, loyalty, and the mythical land of Bumba. Created by artists S. M. Popenko, V. M. Kulikov, and E. E. Sangadzhiev, the visual interpretations complement the narrative by distilling its grand themes into striking, symbolic imagery. Published by the Kalmyk Book Publishing House in 1997, the volume reflects both a reverence for cultural heritage and an effort to make the epic more accessible to modern audiences.

The illustrations were executed using the linocut technique, a printmaking process that involves carving a design into a sheet of linoleum. Once the surface is cut, ink is applied to the raised areas and transferred onto paper using a press, producing bold contrasts and clean, graphic lines. This method lends itself particularly well to the epic’s dramatic tone, emphasizing movement, texture, and form through its stark visual language. The resulting images carry a sense of both craftsmanship and immediacy, echoing the enduring power of the Jangar tradition itself.

We are a Western Mongol people who migrated from Central Asia to the lower Volga region of Europe in the 17th century, establishing the sovereign Kalmyk Khanate before being absorbed into the Russian Empire following a mass exodus of their population back to China in 1771.

This article is a summary of the book called “History of Kalmykia from Ancient Times to the Present Day. Volume 2”, published in 2009 by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kalmyk Institute of Humanitarian Research. This book covers the history of Kalmykia from the late 19th century through the end of the 20th century. It provides a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the intense social, political, and economic transformations the Kalmyk people experienced during a century of massive upheavals in Russia.

The Kalmyks are a testament to how identity survives not through isolation, but through a constant, deliberate weaving together of old and new.

This film was created by Dechen Kelden, a Kalmyk Mongolian who was born and raised in Jackson, NJ. She is a current student at Sarah Lawrence College who took on this project to create an accessible film for young Kalmyks to learn about their history as an Oirat group from the Western Steppes of Mongolia. She is interested in Cultural Preservation studies and working within the Tibetan community based in New York City.

Welcome to Europe's only Buddhist Region - Kalmykia. Some 160,000 Buddhists live here. Kalmykia is an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, located between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. For the series "Europe to The Maxx" Euromaxx reporter Hendrik Welling has made his way to the southeasternmost part of Europe. Join him on his tour to see the highest statue of Buddha in Europe, to hear the sound of overtone singing and to learn more about the rich culture of this special place in Europe.