Despite being influenced by other languages over a long period of time, Buryat has not lost its structure and expressiveness. More and more people are increasingly becoming aware of the Buryat culture, not just in Russia but in other countries such as China, Europe, Australian, America and other countries. The traditional religion of Buryats is Shamanism. Presently, most Buryats are Buddhists and follow the Buddhist philosophy of Tibetan medicine and astrology. The current culture of the Buryats is represented in its paintings, sculptures, circus, cinema, theater, ballet, folklore and operas. These can be found in museums, clubs, theaters and orchestras. As much as the Buryat culture is developing, it has still preserved its old characteristics.
At 500,000, the Buryats are the largest language group in Siberia, in the Buryat Republic of the Russian federation. Buryat is also the official language of other republics in Russia such as Ust-Orda Buryatia and Arga Buryatia. It is also recognized as an official language in China and Mongolia. Buryat is classified either as an independent language on its own or as a dialect of Mongol. Buryat has different dialects. This includes Khori, Ehikirit Ulagat, Lower Uda, Bargut and Alar Unka. Russian Buryat is written using the Cyrillic alphabet. In the past, Mongolian script was used to write the language.
Russian Buryats share many traditional customs with other Mongols such as cattle herding. This forms the basis of their household culture, which had to be adjusted to suit a nomadic way of life. Some of these customs are still practiced today. This includes the cuisine, holidays such as Sagaalgan, national games, calendar, costumes, ornaments and design of their houses. They practice traditional art and craft such as weaving of horse hair and blacksmithing. Marriages were arranged and women were expected to bear many children. Due to high infant mortality rates, magic was used to protect children from the evil spirits. Girls were given boys names while boys were given girls names so as to confuse the spirits. Children were taught how to work hard from early childhood, with the girls helping their mothers to cook, sew and milk while boys learned from their fathers how to herd cattle.
