Hello, friends!
200 kilometers from me, in the remote Sayan taiga, on the shore of Lake Tiberkul, there is a settlement of followers of the teachings of Vissarion Christ (born Sergei Torop).
According to Sergei Torop himself, in 1990 he realized himself as Vissarion, Jesus Christ who returned to Earth. He founded the Church of the Last Testament and began to travel preaching throughout the Soviet Union. The time was alarming, the premonition of the collapse of the country was in the air, and Vissarion talked about a harmonious life, without stress and uncertainty. People abandoned big cities and went to Siberia, to the community of the United Faith. The religion itself is a mixture of Orthodoxy with Buddhism, apocalypticism, collectivism and environmental values. There are many creative people in the community and they have created quite an interesting culture. For example, this wooden temple, built in the village of Petropavlovka.
In 1994, the ecological settlement Abode of Dawn was founded on the shores of the taiga Lake Tiberkul. The center of the settlement is a figure called the Creed, from which 14 streets of the village radiate.
Above the settlement are the Temple Peak, the place where worship takes place, and the Heavenly Abode, where the Temple of Truth is being built and Vissarion’s closest associates live.
View of the settlement from the Temple Mount:
There is only one dirt road leading to the settlement; residents receive electricity from solar panels, and if it is cloudy, then from diesel generators.
Currently, the community numbers about 10,000 people, about 4,000 people live in the settlement of the Abode of Dawn and several nearby villages.
In August 2020, Vissarion and his two closest assistants were arrested and charged with “Creating a religious or public association, the activities of which involve violence against citizens or other harm to their health, as well as management of such an association.” Three and a half years have passed, but there has still been no trial.
The first photo is submitted for participation in POBphotocontest New Round: RELIGION by @friendlymoose
Camera: Nikon 1 S1, Samsung Galaxy A10
Location: Russia, Siberia
Friends, thank you for your attention, see you soon.
Best regards @irvet