George Roerich’s Birthday in the International Roerich Memorial Trust
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August 16 marked the 120-th Birth Anniversary of George Roerich, who was an outstanding scientist – orientalist, buddhologist, linguist, ethnographer, a person dedicated his life and his works to the meeting of East and West.
By tradition this day in the Roerichs Estate started with the Buddhist Guru-puja – a special prayer offering a deep respect to the spiritual master. This ritual dedicated to George Roerich was performed by lamas from the Pangan Monastery situated on the other side of the river Beas. Having being a person of a highest spiritual harmony and in truth encyclopaedic knowledge George Roerich was not only a teacher, but also a guru for his Indian, Russian, Tibetan and Mongolian students. “He has mastered the knowledge of life and of man, the culture of spirit and thought,” K.A.Molchanova wrote of him. “Only this kind of a scientist could wordlessly reply the unasked question about the meaning of life.”
Mrs Larisa Surgina, the Russian Curator of the IRMT working in the Trust on deputation from the International Centre of the Roerichs (Moscow) spoke about the main events of George Roerich’s life in front of the guests of the festival. Since his early years George already knew his Path. History, philology, archaeology took his imagination from the childhood. His special cherished dream was the Middle Asia. By the end of 1923 when his encounter with the East, with India, already occurred he had vast knowledge not only of History and the culture of Central Asia people, but he had mastered many Western and Eastern languages as well. A young scientist became an irreplaceable co-worker with his father in all his beginnings. He took part in the Central-Asian and other expeditions, organized by Nicholas Roerich; he became the head of “Urusvati” Himalayan Research Institute in Naggar; he established and broadened the contacts with the biggest experts and scientists of India, Tibet, America, Europe and Russia. He conducted a huge scientific research work, publishing his works on Tibetan art, on nomadic tribes of Tibet, on the Eastern languages and dialects and many other things. He was dedicating each and every minute of his life to his favourite science, fusing East and West in his searches, being sure that only the synthesis of knowledge accumulated by theses cultures would allow the scientists to ascend “the higher stages of the science”.
George Roerich studied Buddhism thoroughly, comprehending that Knowledge which Buddha had brought for the humanity two and a half thousand years ago. That’s why in the Roerich Trust there has been established a good tradition to observe the scientist’s birthday along with representatives of Buddhism, arranging exhibitions of the Buddhist art. This year for the exhibitions in the Conference-hall there have been presented the works from the IRMT Modern Art collection. Among the exhibits there were the reproductions of the thangkas which were gifted to the Roerich Trust in 2016 by their authors, the masters of Tibetan art Sarika Singh and Master Locho from Dharamsala.
The musical present for the participants and guests of the event was the program prepared by the teachers and senior students of the Helena Roerich Academy of Arts for children under the guidance of the music and vocal teacher Anshul Kumar. The students performed the prayer to Goddess Saraswati and a joyful song dedicated to the India’s Independence Day which had been observed in the country a day before, on August 15. Finally the bright and fiery dance crowned the festive program dedicated to the 120-th Anniversary of the prominent scientist and a remarkable person George Roerich.
