There are very few places in Russia - cities, fortresses and buildings - dated to the 1st millennium AD. That is why each such find becomes a sensation and attracts great attention of scientists and researchers. One of such rare pearls is Por-Bazhyn.
Fortress Por-Bazhyn: History of the gate to Shambhala
The complex is located at an altitude of 1300 meters in a remote and inaccessible mountainous region of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, on a small island in the middle of the shallow lake Tere-Khol, and is protected from three sides by high ridges. In Tuvan language, Por-Bazhyn means "clay house". Residents from the nearby Kungurtug village willingly share stories and legends. And local shamans claim that the northern entrance to the mysterious underground Shambhala is located here. They even say that under the complex there are deep caves, through which you can go around the whole earth …
Shaman's curse
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Tobolsk boyar Semyon Remezov, an outstanding cartographer of that time, was the first to tell about this mysterious place. In his "Drawing Book of Siberia" (1701), he makes a note on the map: "The city is stone old, two walls are intact, two have been destroyed, but we do not know that city." That was the end, and only in 1891 archaeologist and ethnographer Dmitry Klements organized the Orkhon expedition, the purpose of which was the ancient ruins of Teri-Nur. The expedition had to travel hundreds of kilometers across the steppes and taiga, overcome rivers and mountain passes.
From local legends, Clements learned that once there was a palace of a large Mongol feudal lord, who in a hurry left it because of the suddenly gushing water. Being already safe and looking at what had been a valley yesterday, he exclaimed in surprise in Mongolian: "Terinur bolchi!" ("She became a lake!"). This is where the name comes from. The legend was also confirmed by the Polish writer and traveler Ferdinand Osendowski, who fled from the Bolsheviks in the early 1920s through the Sayan Mountains to Mongolia. In his book "Beasts, People, and Gods," he told a local legend: once the commandant of the fortress insulted an old lama, and he cursed this place, predicting the imminent death of the fortification. The very next day, a powerful source came out of the ground, flooding the structure. And so the lake turned out.
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Who builds like this?
Dmitry Klements was also surprised that Por-Bazhyn was sufficiently accurately oriented to the cardinal points. Unlike the Chinese, Uyghur builders never adhered to this. He suggested that this palace was erected by representatives of the Celestial Empire during the time of the Uyghur Kaganate, approximately in the 8th-9th centuries.
Due to its inaccessibility, Por-Bazhyn remained unexplored until the middle of the 20th century. Full-scale excavations led by Professor Sevian Weinstein began only in the summer of 1957. The results confirmed that the builders were from China. This was indicated by fragments of roofing tiles with Chinese patterns and discs for closing gutters with a dragon image. However, later it turned out that the foundation and raw bricks, from which the walls were built, were made according to the technologies adopted in Sogdiana - a state neighboring the Uyghur Kaganate and located on the territory of modern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The researchers came to the conclusion that the architect was a Chinese, and the complex was built by "guest workers".
Sanatorium? Palace? Monastery?
The purpose of the complex in such a secluded and inaccessible place has surprised archaeologists at all times. In the area of the island, the cultural layer is extremely poor; they did not live here for long. Perhaps the complex was a temporary refuge for the rulers of those times, a kind of summer residence. A runic inscription on a stone, found at the beginning of the 20th century on the Selenga River, tells that the second ruler of the 3rd Uygur Kaganate, Moyan-chur, built a fortress on the Kungurtug Highlands (where Lake Tere-Khol is located): “Then, in the year of the Tiger (750 g.), I went on a campaign against the cheeks. In the second month, on the 14th day, near (the river) By whom I broke them. … I ordered to set up my own camp and palace, there I forced to build fortress walls, there I spent the summer, and there I arranged prayers to the higher deities."
By the way, there really was no lake in those days. On aerial photographs taken already in our time, traces of roads leading to the complex were found at the bottom of Tere-Khol.
Scientists are still arguing about its purpose, but basically three versions stand out. According to the first of them, Por-Bazhyn was the summer residence of the Uyghur kagan. This is indicated by the lack of heating - at -50 ° C you won't get much rest. And in summer it is just right: there are healing hydrogen sulfide springs nearby. Well, besides, mountain air, hunting, fishing … An excellent "sanatorium" for the highest authorities!
Supporters of the second version consider the "clay house" to be the palace of the Chinese princess Ningguo. Once Khan Moyan-chur helped the Chinese emperor in the fight against the rebels and in gratitude received an imperial daughter as his wife, for whom this residence was built. True, she lived there for a very short time due to the death of her husband. The romantic version is supported by the fact that the architect of this very mandala-like structure was a Chinese.
And finally, the monastery is the most plausible version, along with the first. This is indicated by the remoteness and inaccessibility. For monks, keepers of secrets, the place is most suitable.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Nikolai Abaev believes that Por-Bazhyn was associated with the ancient military cult of the heavenly fire-breathing serpent - the dragon, which the ancient Uryankhais and Uyghurs worshiped as the god of war. Here, the secrets of the ancient military order were hidden from prying eyes.
Two palaces
It should be noted that the structure is completely uncharacteristic for these places and now represents walls up to 10 m high, arranged in the form of a rectangle 211 by 158 m in size. Remains of a gate with well-fortified towers, remains of dwellings and service buildings have been preserved. Fragments of ceramic and stone dishes, jewelry, iron blanks were found in a smithy … In the central part, archaeologists found the foundations of two palace buildings measuring 23 × 23 and 15 × 15 m. They were located on elevations of compacted earth and clay and were connected to each other by a covered passage … The cylindrical tile roof was supported by wooden columns. The walls more than a meter thick were decorated with ornamental frescoes.
Russian Shambhala
The last arrival of archaeologists to these hard-to-reach places happened 50 years later thanks to Sergei Shoigu, then the Minister of Emergency Situations. He not only proposed a project to restore the ancient structure, but also assembled a team, campaigned young people, and looked for sponsors. He argued that Por-Bazhyn could become a Russian Shaolin, where they would teach philosophy, Tibetan medicine, and martial arts. Of course, this place would become attractive for tourists as well. Sacred interest cannot be ruled out: Shoigu is friends with Tuvan shamans, who have long considered these places as the northern entrance to the underground country of Shambhala. For four months specialists of various professions from 18 research institutes and students of institutes of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk and Kyzyl, with a total number of about 500 people, worked on the island. On the level of the project, which started in May 2007,the visit of President Putin to Tere-Khol in August 2007 with a guest - Prince of Monaco Albert II also spoke.
Alas, the grandiose plans for the construction of the Russian Shaolin were not given to come true - after a year the work was practically curtailed. They say that one of the reasons was the results of a geophysical study: the fortress and the lake itself are on a huge glacier and the subsequent global warming will inevitably lead to the flooding of the complex. There is no point in pumping a lot of money here. Others whisper that the unexpected and sudden death of the shaman who consecrated the complex is to blame. Say, the true owner of these places did not want to see a remake here, closing the entrance to the mysterious Shambhala.
Seeker of adventures
In the vicinity of Por-Bazhyn, archaeologists still found a burial place, and it shocked everyone! It turned out to be the grave of a warrior, whose remains and weapons indicate that he is … a medieval European knight! Was he really a crusader or a Templar looking for Shambhala? And how did he get here?
Journal: Steps of the Oracle # 4. Author: Alexander Gunkovsky