On December 27, 2005, the Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume ("The Golden Abode of the Buddha Shakyamuni") was opened in Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. More than 5,000 people attended the opening ceremony, including representatives of Tibetan Buddhist communities from Moscow, Volgograd and Saratov.