Konyr aulie, the cave
It is located in the Bayanaul mountains, 12 km west of Bayanaul village, 4.5 km west of Lake Zhasybai (Bayanaul district, Pavlodar region). The cave is located in the upper part of a high rock in the picturesque area of the Bayanaul mountains. Konyr Aulie Cave is a natural cavity formed in the rock with a space consisting of two narrowing elongated chambers.
It is well known about the existence of worship in the cave, reflected in written sources from the XVIII century. The cult of veneration of the cave Konyr aulie as a holy place, most likely, was formed as a result of a mixture of different layers of religious practice of Saryarka tribes. According to one version, the cave is a place of pilgrimage and characterizes the cult practice of the ancient tribes of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. It should also be noted that the influence of the cults of the Turkic epoch is traced. According to the assumption of N. Konshin, the veneration of Aulie Tas could pass to the Kazakhs from the Kalmyks who lived in the Bayanaul mountains until the XVIII century. Originally, written sources authentically know about the presence of worship among Kazakhs in the XVIII century in the cave of Aulie Tas. The same name is given in the sources of the early XX century. Despite the fact that both names of the object - Aulie Tas and Konyr Aulie - are known to the Kazakhs, today the second variant is more popular. The problem of using and transforming the name of the cave requires further study.
The earliest information about the cave is found in the work "Orenburg Topography" by P.I. Rychkov. Describing the Bayanaul mountains, he gives the following lines: "The cave, which has a lake with small birds of a special kind, also affects it. There is also a coffin of the Mohammedans for the saint who is revered, where the Kirghiz people go swimming and believe, as if through that swimming they are cured of various diseases". Later, at the beginning of the XX century, cult ceremonies and the cave itself were described by N. Konshin, A.N. Sidelnikov, T.P. Belonogov and P.N. Stolpiansky. Since the 1960s the cave has been repeatedly studied by Pavlodar local lore specialists, in 1969-1970 it was inspected by the expedition of the Pavlodar Regional History and Local Lore Museum, in 2007 - by the PAE under the direction of V.K. Merts.
The ascent to the cave is equipped with a staircase, the length of which is 110 m. For convenience, every 10-15 m there are rest areas equipped. The rock on which the cave is located is stretched on the N-S axis, it consists of crystalline rocks of granitoids and is formed as a result of tectonic processes and weathering. The entrance to the cave is located on the western side of the rock, the width of the entrance is 1.8-2.5 m. The cave consists of a "hall" about 30 m long and 7 m high, which turns into a narrow, rising corridor-shaped continuation. A very narrow passageway leads upwards and there is a recess where moisture is collected and flows down the cracks. Compacted loose deposits have accumulated on the cave floor. A trench laid in the cave in 1970 revealed the presence of a large number of animal bones and traces of sacrificial offerings of believers. But this is how it was described by Nikolai Konshin, who visited the cave in 1900: "The cave is located higher than in the middle of the mountain, and it seems to be a black hole from afar. The ascent is not particularly difficult, it stretches with a ribbon on the mountain's ledges, overgrown where there is no stone, with rose hips and honeysuckles. The entrance to the cave is much higher than the height of a man, has a triangular shape. At a distance of several arbors behind the entrance there is a wooden partition with a door; the floor, walls, ceiling of the cave are all made of stone. It looks like a corridor with uneven, but very high, somewhere below the ceilings: the length of the cave, as it seemed to me, is not less than 10 fathoms, and the width - about the fathom. The cave is damp and cold as in the cellar, and completely dark, so you need to stock up on a candle to inspect it properly. At the end of the corridor lies a large stone with a recess in the middle, where cold water is constantly accumulating, like ice, dripping from the ceiling and walls of the cave. This stone is called a cauldron by the Kazakhs; on its walls, apparently, there were several wooden spoons for drinking. The cave has clear traces of frequent visits by Kazakhs, a well trampled path leads to it, mutton bones can be seen everywhere, the entrance to the cave is heavily smoked, and on a small area in front of it on bushes and stones - everywhere there are scraps of chintz, nightmares and other things".
According to Kazakh beliefs, the Konyr aulie cave is a holy place. Legends have it that the spring located in the cave discovered the Konyr aulie during the flood, and the cave became the refuge of the spirit of the great prophet. Three Kazakh aulies - Kulan, Kyran and Konyr - were not able to get into the Ark of Noah the Prophet. However, the holy ancestors did not despair, having tied up three logs and swam after the ark. At some point the bundle of logs broke off, and the ancestors sailed in different directions. When the storm ended in the sea, formed as a result of the flood, the log on which Konyr aulie was held was nailed to the white ridge. Aulie stayed here and lived in a rocky cave. The Kazakhs believe that the spirit of the saint remained in the cave after his death.
The cult of Konyr aulie is definitely connected with pre-Islamic beliefs and continued to exist in the spread of Islamic traditions and practices among the Kazakhs. This cult is a vivid example of steppe religious syncretism, which mixed elements of pre-Islamic animistic cults, respect for the spirit of ancestors and Islamic legends about Noah's Ark. This version is confirmed by Nikolai Konshin: "Of course, all the rituals described above are of the deep, old-fashioned nature of the Noah's Ark. The Tatars do not honor the caves, and if they go to it, it is out of curiosity, as do the Russians. According to the researcher of Kazakh pre-Islamic cults R.M. Mustafina, "being for a long time in the conditions of Islam, the relics of pre-Islamic traditions were intertwined with the dominant religious outlook, found an Islamic cover and began to be perceived as elements of a new, Islamic worldview.
In the beliefs of the Kazakhs, the water from the cave's "cauldron" was of particular value. Faith in the healing properties of the water from the Konyr aulie cave may well be associated with the animistic cult "Zher-Su", a belief in the spirit of water that was present among Turkic-speaking peoples. In the "Full geographical description of the Fatherland" the cult of water in the cave Aulie Tas is reflected in the following lines: "...at the western wall of which lies a large stone with a depression in the middle. Cold, transparent water flowing down from the walls and ceiling of the cave is constantly accumulating in it, which, in the opinion of the Kyrgyz, is distinguished by its very healing properties. The Kyrgyz visiting the cave drink this water, wash the sick parts of the body with it and use it for ablutions established in the Mohammedans". Faith in the sanctity of the cave's water has a close connection with the cult of fertility. According to the Description, "especially many women in Aulie Tas, because the holy water of the cave destroys the infertility of women, according to the Kyrgyz".
The very process of the ritual was described by Nikolai Konshin: "On Aulie Tas go to pray sick and just poor Kazakhs, and mainly childless women. They come usually in the evening and at night they spend either in a cave or somewhere near it. Rich people pram a ram and cook its meat, having laid a fire at the entrance to the cave. Meat is definitely cooked in the water from the cave cauldron, and from there they take water for washing, drink it and especially water the sick parts of the body. According to the Kazakhs, this water has healing properties. As one Bayanaul old man, Kazakh (Chagybay Tasybayev), told me later, praying people make more candles out of chiy, wrapping it with cotton wool or rags soaked in fat from a stabbed ram; these candles (shyrak) are burnt in a cave.... You can judge by the dreams you have while sleeping near the cave whether or not you will do what you want. The poor hang shreds everywhere as a sign of sacrifice, and the rich, as I said, puncture the ram and put money on the cave cauldron. This money, according to the same Chagybay, the poor have the right to take it for themselves, but at the same time it is necessary to address the holy spirit of the cave with the words: "Taksyr, don't be angry, let me take this money".
Currently, the cave is a very popular place of cult, sacred tourism. People travel with certain hopes and requests, as well as out of curiosity. It is commonly believed that if a person comes with good intentions and strong desire, it will come true. Visiting the cave is especially popular among women, and it is associated with the belief in the possibility of curing infertility and childbirth. The sacral significance of the object is determined by the fact that the inhabitants and guests of the Irtysh region, following the traditions of their ancestors and honoring the cave of Konyr aulie as a holy place, make pilgrimage to the cave to perform rituals and read prayers.