New book reveals sacred sites in Kyrgyz highlands
18.11.2014
A new book, “Values of Naryn: Breathing Sacredness and Precious Wisdom,” is dedicated to sacred sites and previously unrecorded knowledge on spiritual and household practices, rituals, customs and oral history of local population, living in highlands of Naryn province in Kyrgyzstan. All the data was collected by a team of the Aigine Cultural Research Center, who conducted extensive field research in the Naryn Province in 2013. This is the sixth volume in the Aigine series of books on sacred sites of Kyrgyzstan.
The first part of the three-part book written in Kyrgyz is called ‘Integrity is Nurtured by Sacredness’ and enumerates 322 sacred sites of which 241 are described. It then goes into local stories on shrines related to sacred mythological, epic or historical ancestors. A collection of narratives discuss sacred sites linked to miraculous springs, lakes, mountains and stones that are believed to have healing sources for physical, psychological or spiritual problems. The first part ends with, ‘The Order of Sacredness,’ which is devoted to the relationships between humans and sacred places.
The second part of the book, ‘A Thousand Edges of the Kyrgyzness,’ conveys local knowledge and practices connected to sacred sites. It also contains narratives on human attitudes towards nature and animals, including narrations on the mysterious world of stars and dreams. A special section describes controversies and disputes over the tradition of making a pilgrimage to sacred sites.
The last part, ‘The Contemporary Eminence,’ is dedicated to the memory of Nurak Adbrakhmanov, one of the foremost Kyrgyz traditional musicians and guardians of our time. He provided great input for the book before his demise. The paper, ‘Return to Father Adam's Religion,’ is the first publication of his reflections on the current state of religion in Kyrgyzstan.
Sacred site custodians, pilgrims, spiritual practitioners, local intellectuals as well as singers and musicians are the main authors of the book, who originally come from or are otherwise connected to the Naryn Province.
The research and publication of the book were supported by The Christensen Fund (USA). Read more
|
