"We are going to open the largest Buddhist temple on December 27. We expect His Holiness to visit us if the Foreign Ministry grants him a visa," he said.

During his visit to Kalmykia last year, the Dalai Lama consecrated the temple's construction site, he said.

"Yesterday, I met with representatives of the Buddhist Union of the republic of Kalmykia and Buddhists of the Russian Federation. They have already handed over our invitation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama," Ilyumzhinov said.