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Religion

Voodoo Brides

26:47

Benin is a spiritual home of voodoo and the only country where it’s recognised as a state religion. In southern Benin, children are sent to traditional voodoo monasteries, where they are forbidden to speak their native language and use their names. Children are given to monasteries to appease the spirits if a parent or a child is sick. Taking them back requires an expensive ritual. But parents often have neither money nor willingness to return their children, leaving them in monasteries for months and years.

Добавить в избранное Miracle Monk 27:27 Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov is a famous Buddhist monk from the Buryatia region. He lived in the 19th century, but worshippers still consider him alive. In 1927, Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov sat in a lotus pose, began to chant a prayer for the dead and entered a deep meditative state. When his body was exhumed in the early 2000s, witnesses were stunned. His body wasn’t mummified, but it didn’t decay. RT Documentary explores the science behind the miracle monk.

Добавить в избранное Blind Devotion 14:22 Nikolay Tarasenko has been building an Orthodox Church on a mountain in his hometown of Kamenka in the Lugansk People’s Republic since the 1990s. When the war broke out in the Donbass in 2014, the project continued regardless. The church’s domes were built under constant shelling. “Then they started to bomb the church and dropped 70 guided aerial bombs on it. The heaviest weighed in at about 250 kilogram,” Nikolay recalls. Fields around the church were scorched, houses were destroyed but “not a single fragment reached the church. Not a single one.” The documentary tells Nikolay’s story and why he decided to finish building his church against all odds.

Добавить в избранное Father Zosima: Testament of a Donetsk Seer 1:30:44 Elder Zosima foresaw the war in Ukraine and the resurgence of fascism. The monastery he founded is intentionally targeted by the Ukrainian army today. "Everything he said is now going on before our eyes," believes Sister Mariamna. Despite risking her own life, Sister Mariamna continues her service in the church according to the Seer testament. What helps her and other priests to carry on?

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Добавить в избранное The Immortals 26:41 3 Ziona Chana is head of the largest family in the world, leader of a religious commune in India and, according to some, he’s God himself. Hundreds of followers pray to him and worship him as an immortal deity. RT Doc visits the polygamous “New Generation” cult he founded at the foot of the Himalayas.

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Добавить в избранное Sacred road 26:01 7 The Velikoretsky Procession of the Cross; the oldest, longest and by far the biggest of many in Russia; 40,000 pilgrims from all over country walk 160 kilometers for 5 days following the icon of St. Nicolay the Wonder-worker. We meet some of the Orthodox devotees and delve into what motivates them to take part in this challenging and demanding pilgrimage.

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Добавить в избранное Children of the schism 26:13 8 Resisting civilization’s impact has been their way of life for centuries. Their ancestors had immigrated to Latin America, but they have returned to Russia. Are they thriving in their newfound motherland?

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Добавить в избранное Searching for a Miracle 24:14 2 Ivolginsky Datsan in Eastern Siberia is one of the major Buddhist temples in Russia. It is also home to Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov Lama, the chief figure of Russian Buddhism before the October Revolution in 1917. After being buried for decades, his body was exhumed, only to find that there were no signs of decay on it. Now he is worshipped as a saint.