Building A Buddhist Stupa on the Russian Steppe

Naj Wikoff from Keene Valley is spending a year in Ulan Udea, in Russia's Lake Baikal region, developing arts programs at a government hospital. He's has been keeping an on-line journal on NCPR's website and sending occasional audio diaries. This week, Naj describes a village's effort to rebuild a sacred Buddhist shrine, called a stupa, in a small village on the edge of Siberia. Buddhists were persecuted during by the communist regime, especially during the Stalin era in the 1950s. But over the last decade, the religion has experienced a renaissance. The new stupa will serve as a place of worship and pilgrimage to honor the 12th reincarnation of the Khambo Lama.