ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects upon author's experiences of travels in Buryatia, Khakassia, Altai and Tuva Republics of the Russian Federation, bringing to light certain commonalities of traditions and beliefs still prevalent in this Siberian region and India. Covering an area of 351,000 km2 and situated in the southern part of East Siberia to the southeast of Lake Baikal, the Republic of Buryatia borders Mongolia in the south, the Republic of Tuva in the southwest, the Irkutsk Oblast in the northwest and Chita Oblast in the east. On the way to Lake Baikal, visitors stop and bow before the birch trees offering tea, bread, coins and so forth. Altai has been variously described as "Gate to Shambhala", "Pearl of Asia", "Siberia's Switzerland", "The Golden Mountains" and so on. Mount Meru is a sacred mountain in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Meru is also called Sumeru in Sanskrit.
