The meaningful name of the sacred cult place Tekturmas (translated as “not just standing”, “restless place”), towering on the right bank of the Talas River from the southeast side over the city of Taraz, fully justifies the mystical nature of this historical and cultural monument.
From the Tekturmas hill, a beautiful panorama of the city of Taraz lies below. The impression is enhanced by the picturesquely winding Talas River flowing nearby, which gave the name to the ancient city. It was this part of Taraz in ancient times, according to historians, was the basis of the ancient settlement, the age of which scientists roughly date the beginning of our era. In the Middle Ages, Taraz became a large trading city on the Great Silk Road, actively developing and getting rich. And this was facilitated by the geographical location in the vicinity of Tekturmas, where in the X-XIII centuries there was a stone bridge, across which caravans were ferried across the Talas River, and the remains of the bridge have survived to this day. In those days, Talas flooded heavily in the springtime, so that the caravans could cross this section of the path only by crossing the bridge. The resourceful rulers of Taraz set up a "customs" here to collect tribute, replenishing the city treasury and increasing their power. It is not for nothing that a "leopard with a raised paw" flaunts on the coat of arms of the ancient city - a symbol of power and prosperity, and foreign states, judging by the historical chronicles, sought cooperation, sending their ambassadors to the rulers of ancient Taraz.
“In ancient times, people preferred to settle along the course of rivers,” says Anna Krokosheva, a senior researcher at the State Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum “Monuments of Ancient Taraz”, “They were mainly farmers, and they buried their relatives on the nearest hill. In this case, Tekturmas Mountain, located on the right bank of the Talas River and being the last in the ridge of the Kyrgyz Alatau, served as such a hill. The oldest burials in this place date back to the turn of our era. They belong to the era of flourishing Zoroastrianism, and this burial in the Zhambyl region is one of the largest Zoroastrian cemeteries in Central Asia. There are many small depressions on the right slope of the mountain - this is an ancient necropolis, old graves that settled down after many years,but in some places there are even gravestones. Many famous historical figures have found their rest here. This is the holy Sultan Mahmud Khan. This is the great Kazakh batyr Mambet, an associate of Abylai Khan, he became famous as a fearless fighter for independence in the war against the Dzungars. Subsequently, his work was continued by his son Baizak-batyr, who devoted his life to liberating his native land from the Kokand people. The theologian Fasakhuddin Sabitov, who once made the hajj to Mecca on foot from Kazan, was also buried at Tekturmas. He was an incredibly kind person, healed people, conducted missionary activities and lived to be 102 years old, and when he died in 1953, he was buried in a holy place - on the northern slope of Mount Tekturmas. "he became famous as a fearless fighter for independence in the war against the Dzungars. Subsequently, his work was continued by his son Baizak-batyr, who devoted his life to liberating his native land from the Kokand people. The theologian Fasakhuddin Sabitov, who once made the hajj to Mecca on foot from Kazan, was also buried at Tekturmas. He was an incredibly kind person, healed people, conducted missionary activities and lived to be 102 years old, and when he died in 1953, he was buried in a holy place - on the northern slope of Mount Tekturmas. "he became famous as a fearless fighter for independence in the war against the Dzungars. Subsequently, his work was continued by his son Baizak-batyr, who devoted his life to liberating his native land from the Kokand people. The theologian Fasakhuddin Sabitov, who once made the hajj to Mecca on foot from Kazan, was also buried at Tekturmas. He was an incredibly kind person, healed people, conducted missionary activities and lived to be 102 years old, and when he died in 1953, he was buried in a holy place - on the northern slope of Mount Tekturmas. "he healed people, conducted missionary activities and lived to be 102 years old, and when he died in 1953, he was buried in a holy place - on the northern slope of Mount Tekturmas. "he healed people, conducted missionary activities and lived to be 102 years old, and when he died in 1953, he was buried in a holy place - on the northern slope of Mount Tekturmas."
It is noteworthy that the graves of followers of three different religions were discovered here. Since Taraz was a city where various religions were professed along the Great Silk Road, burials of both Zoroastrians, and the first Nestorian Christians, and ancient Muslim graves were found in the vicinity of Tekturmas. “For the funeral ceremony, the Zoroastrians used special ceramic vessels - ossuaries. Some of them were found by archaeologists during the local excavations and are now presented in the permanent exhibition of the regional history and local history museum. They come in different shapes and sizes. Humm were often decorated with stucco. They were painted with zoomorphic symbols that resemble snow leopards, mountain goats, monkeys and other animals. The sign of the Sun was also often used,”said Anna Krokosheva.
The well-known landmark of Taraz - Tekturmas is considered the burial place of the holy Sultan Mahmud Khan. His mausoleum, built during the spread of Islam on the local territory, was destroyed in 1935. In 2001, the Tekturmas public foundation, based on a surviving photograph of the late 19th century, restored a new mausoleum on the site of the previous one. The new building fully conveys the strict forms of the medieval style. Mazar, square in plan, is a brick structure of a centric composition with a side of eight meters. The walls are thinned by large lancet niches, cut door and window openings with beamed ceilings, giving the structure dynamism and slenderness. The building has domes characteristic of early Islamic architecture: four small ones in the corners and one large one, as if stretching towards the sky, in the center.
Nearby there is a mausoleum built over the grave of the great Kazakh batyr Mambet, who lived in this region in the 18th century. Initially, Mambet-batyr was buried on the territory of the Karakhan mausoleum in the center of Taraz, but in 1956, due to the construction of the stadium on the site of the previous burial, his remains were transferred to Mount Tekturmas. Later, his descendants, living in the Bayzak district of the Zhambyl region, erected a separate mausoleum for him.
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The architectural complex is one of the popular pilgrimage sites for both believers and guests of the city. Traditionally, newlyweds come here to bow to the ashes of the elders, pray, and receive a blessing.
“Judging by the fact that Taraz was the capital several times, it was also a large economic city, usually in such cities, both European and Asian, of course, there were such underground trenches, ways so that rulers and townspeople could hide from enemy invasions,” continues interlocutor. - From Tekturmas there is an underground passage along which a rider with a spear can supposedly pass. Old-timers who used to live here said that they went down there in childhood, and that that cave was voluminous. According to legend, in the XIII century, when the Mongols stormed Taraz, the inhabitants set fire to the city themselves and left it through an underground passage. In fact, this underground passage has not yet been explored. The well-known Zhambyl journalist, historian, researcher Amantai Aizakhmetov made attempts to find him, but he is as a journalist, and there have been no scientific archaeological expeditions yet. We hope that sooner or later,When here, on the territory of the Taraz settlement, the main part of archaeological work will be completed by archaeologists, we will open an underground passage. So about the underground city, as a scientist, I cannot say for sure whether it exists or not. But I do not exclude this possibility."
It is assumed that this underground passage from Tekturmas is connected with the ancient shakhristan in Taraz, and with the palace complex Akyr-Tas and the Bota-Moinak gorge, located to the north in the Zhambyl region, and with the mountains of the Kyrgyz Alatau surrounding Taraz, where many caves have been discovered. An attempt to study these underground labyrinths was once undertaken by Amantai Aizakhmetov, who equipped a special expedition. He wrote about his work in detail in the book "White Geese of the Wild Field, or Secrets of the Beyond World."
The researchers found that the walls of the underground passage were lined with stone blocks, and in some places they were made of old baked bricks. The ceiling is made of huge boulders, which, for the safety of the team, had to be removed with the help of heavy equipment, since everything at that time was so fragile that even a slight sound could cause a collapse. The first thing that the team found when they went down the tunnel was a horseshoe. The find piqued their interest, and step by step the members of the expedition began to move forward. But as we moved deeper, it became more difficult to work, since the vault was unreliable. “It is difficult to convey in words what we saw here,” A. Aizakhmetov wrote later. - Below, underground, a completely different world. Different colors, different sensations. Stones covered with salt deposits like glaze reflect unearthly light. Even in the summer heat, it is cold here. An icy wind blows right into your face from the depths of the dungeon. Unaccustomed to our hearing, continuous silence, unfamiliar to our eyes, black impenetrable haze. Only the beams of the miner's lanterns, like steel swords, cut through the pitch darkness. Fear, curiosity and uncertainty. We overcome fear, hold on to curiosity, and the unknown moves further and further into the depths of the dungeon. It seems that we are on another planet. Red Martian landscape. And the air here is completely different, you breathe and cannot breathe it.curiosity and uncertainty. We overcome fear, hold on to curiosity, and the unknown moves further and further into the depths of the dungeon. It seems that we are on another planet. Red Martian landscape. And the air here is completely different, you breathe and cannot breathe it.curiosity and uncertainty. We overcome fear, hold on to curiosity, and the unknown moves further and further into the depths of the dungeon. It seems that we are on another planet. Red Martian landscape. And the air here is completely different, you breathe and cannot breathe it.
Tekturmas is also notable for its mysterious phenomena. Local residents tell about UFOs appearing here and the ghost of an ancient shining old man. And researchers record geomagnetic anomalies and cases of healings from ailments after a pilgrimage to Tekturmas.
“I cannot say that you can see something like that here, but it is quite possible that some anomalies may appear. After all, for many hundreds of years people were buried in this place, subtle energy was accumulated, which can give such inexplicable things,”Anna Krokosheva believes.
Author: Galina Skripnik
