The main attraction of the Ergaki Natural Park is considered to be a stone hanging over the abyss and by some miracle kept on the very edge of the cliff. Many tourists tried to move the stone and throw it into the abyss. Local residents are sure that it is not worth doing this, the stone should rest in its place. According to legend, immediately after the fall of the block, the Sleeping Sayan will wake up and the end of the world will come.
What guards the Sleeping Saiyan
Sleeping Sayan is a ridge of mountains in the Ergaki Natural Park in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The ridge from a distance is very similar to the silhouette of a man lying on his back, with huge arms folded on his chest. It seems that this is a tired hero, who lay down to rest, just about he has to get up and hit the road.
Hands, face, disheveled hair of the stone giant are clearly visible. You can enter from any side, the illusion of a human silhouette does not disappear, as it happens with other natural creations. Perhaps this was the main reason for the creation of the legends about the Sleeping Sayan.
Profile * of the face * of the sleeping Sayan.
One of them says that this park was previously a sacred place, and the children of the gods here descended to earth to play. And Sayan is a kind hero who guarded them during the game. He woke up when the gods descended from heaven, and fell asleep again when they came back. But the gods have not visited the earth for a very long time, which is why Sayan sleeps for so long.
According to another version, Sayan is the keeper of the taiga. There lived a giant many centuries ago, was kind and hard-working, did not offend either people or animals, did not cut down trees in vain, did not trample grass. When the time came for Sayan to go into the world of shadows, the gods could not find a replacement for him and left him on the ground, turning him into a sleeping block. He is still watching the taiga, but he will see evil, wake up and punish the offender.
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There are people who believe that the Sayan is the bogatyr Svyatogor, about whom the epics say: “big as a mountain”.
Hanging stone in Ergaki
The natural park is visited by thousands of tourists, and most of them just to see the curiosity with their own eyes. A huge stone block weighing more than 600 tons froze at the very edge of the abyss. It seems surprising how the stone holds, because it comes into contact with the rock only in an insignificant area and is on a slope. According to all laws, he must fall. Previously, the stone was not just "hanging", but also "repentant". Not all tourists come just to look at it; many are trying to push a stone off a cliff.
600 tons hanging stone in Ergaki.
One of the tourist groups was not too lazy to put a jack on the rock in order to accomplish what many did not manage - to push the stone down. But they also failed. The lump only slightly moved and sat even more firmly in its place. Since then, the stone no longer sways.
There are many legends about how he got here and why he doesn't fall. Shaking their heads, the old people said that children are always children, even if they are the offspring of the gods. They scatter their toys and rarely put them away. So the stone is just a toy that they "forgot" on the edge of the cliff.
Tourists are trying to push the hanging stone:-)
How the hanging stone is associated with the end of the world
The same legend says that sooner or later the stone will fall off the cliff. For what reason, nobody knows. Either people will achieve their goal and still push him, or simply his time will come.
Hanging stone in Ergaki
The stone will fall into the Rainbow Lake, over which it hovered. The spray from the lake will reach the Sleeping Sayan and wake him up. And then the anger of the stone giant will be so great that it will not seem a little to anyone.
He will uproot trees and break rocks until he reaches people's homes. And he won't leave a stone unturned there. Therefore, local residents believe, it is better to leave the hanging stone alone. The later it falls, the better for all of us.
