Okshy ata, the mausoleum

It is situated in 5 km to the east from Baigekum village (Shieli district, Kyzylorda region). The mausoleum of Okshy ata is located near the mausoleums of Asan ata, Kysh ata, Kaip ata, Esabyz ata, Dosbol datka and Bala bi, which make up the memorial complex "Seven saints". One of the oldest tombs in the pantheon is the tomb of Esabyz ata.

As legends say, Okshy ata was born in Mecca. He arrived on the banks of the Syr Darya River during his wanderings and became the adopted son of an old woman and an old man. According to some sources, his real name is Ibrahim, and according to others - Kogentup. Okshy's name was already given to him on the territory of Kazakhstan and it is apparently connected with the fact that he was an armourer of the Oghuz khan Kazan Salar. At the beginning of the XX century V.A. Kallaur wrote about semi-destroyed buildings in this place, urban settlement accepted by him. The dome of the mausoleum of Okshy ata towered over the ruins. There is an assumption that the famous philosopher Bayezid Bestami lived in the city of Bestam, where the workshop of Okshy-ata was located, and communicated with him closely.

The origin of the name Okshy ata and its glory as a holy man, a defender of the people is described in the legend. In those days there lived a khan of Kalmyks Tokbur khan. Every day a ram was brought to him and a girl was brought to him. Once Kogentup was going to Turkestan. His foster parents asked him what to do if it was his half-sister's turn. Kogentup told them to stab and boil a ram and, while the khan was eating, shout his name three times. Parents did so. After they shouted Kogentup's name for the third time, Tokbura fell dead. When Kogentup returned, he said that when his name was shouted for the first time, he turned to the call, when he was shouted for the second time, he put the grains in the palm of his hand, and after the third time he blew them, and six grains, like bullets, stuck into the chest of Tokbura. That's why they called him Okshy (ok - bullet).

Okshy ata Mausoleum belongs to the monuments of the Oghuzes era of the Х-ХI centuries. Folk legends have brought to our times that Okshy defended his native land from foreign invaders, did not let the poor and beggars offend, always stood up for the weak. His name as a righteous defender remained in the people's memory. Every year tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over Kazakhstan visit the mausoleum of Okshy. There are many facts of miraculous healing of people from various diseases of soul and body after visiting these sacred places.

The mausoleum of Okshy ata has huge value as one of monuments of memorial architecture of medieval Kazakhstan. In terms of mausoleums of almost square shape 7.15×7.10 m, the height of the walls is 3.30 m, the height of the dome is 3.35 m. The total height is 6.65 m. Burnt square bricks were used in the construction.

The mausoleum is located near the international route Western Europe - Western China, in the saxaul and tamarisk grove. In 2005, restoration work was carried out on the Okshy ata mausoleum as part of the "Cultural Heritage" programme. In 2011, security boards were installed. It is a local architectural monument.

It is a tourist attraction.