Dombauyl, a cult building

It is located 50 km northeast of Zhezkazgan and 5 km from the mausoleum of Zhoshy Khan (Ulytau district, Karagandy region).

The earliest information about this sacred ancient structure can be found at Sh.Sh. Ualikhanov. He wrote: "Pyramidal graves with emptiness inside are usually erected from wild stone; this tomb takes the form of a pyramidal tomb not directly from the ground; steep walls initially rise, and then begin to narrow".

There are various variants of legends associated with Dombauyl. Later these legends are repeated by different authors with minor changes. One of the most widespread legends is printed on the pages of the "Kyrgyz Steppe Newspaper" by O. Alzhanov: "Alasha Khan had a devoted slave Dombaul, who had great physical strength. Having learnt about the death of Alash Khan's son, Jochi Khan, Dombaul swears to exterminate the kulans who killed his chef. On two horses Kuban-Kulan and Enkei Dombaul pursues a thousandth herd of kulans and ruthlessly destroys it. The remaining five kulans from the herd are ferried across the Chu River. The place is still called "Bes-Kulan". Dombaul, after the kulans crossed the river Chu, at the foot of a low hill, loses his horse Kuban-Kulan, who died of fatigue. Pursuing the kulans on the Enkei horse, Dombaul loses it too, but already at the other hill. These hills are now called "Kuban-Kulan" and "Enkei".

According to one version of the legend, Dombauyl was the father of Genghis Khan, and the other - the court musician or gunslinger of Zhoshy Khan. In Ulytau, along with the mausoleum of Dombauyl, there are several similar buildings in architecture - Kosuitas, Karadyn, Uitas, Dynmolasy. The name of the monument is given only to the construction of Dombauyl. "Dyn", or "Dyngek", means a tower or a high conical structure of the pre-Islamic period, due to the fact that in folk tales and legends there are no names of these structures.

The mausoleum is built of natural stone slabs and is a tall cone-shaped structure on a square basis, measuring 9.30 x 7.90 m and 6.4 m high. A plan of the trapezoidal interior space. The strong foundation and wall thickness of 3.5 m in some places contributed to the long-term preservation of the structure. The entrance opening is raised by 1.95 m from the ground level and is accessed by five high staircase steps. The floor of the building is below the high threshold. At a height of 2.5 m from the floor level, the northern and southern walls of the mausoleum have broken ends of wooden beams, which apparently represented a reed ceiling, and thin sandstone slabs have been laid on top of them.

Dombauyl Mausoleum is an ancient cult construction. Architectural monument of republican importance. Since 1982 it has been protected by the state.

It is the object of pilgrimage and tourism.