Bayanaul's Balbal sculptures – evidence of ancient Turkic history
Balbals or human-shaped stone dculptures of the ancient Turkic world can often been found in the Bayanaul land of Pavlodar region. The stone monuments located in mountainous areas serve as an evidence that the Kazakh people had a unique ethnic culture and rich spiritual heritage, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Archeologist and orientalist Alkey Margulan was the first to study the balbal sculptures of Kazakhstan. In his book “Ancient Witnesses of Culture”, he describes the balbals as a religious-traditional complex of ancient Turks.
“This complex consists of a special mausoleum, a burial mound, a pedestal, a slab, a stela and balbals, whose number varies from 10 to 600. The majority of these complexes were built to honor the rulers or the representatives of upper class: Khagans, Tigins, Tarkhans and Tuduns. Ordinary people also made balbals. These complexes were used mainly to carry out such rituals as zhoktau or funeral feast,” the book reads.
Alkey Margulan discovered around 50 balbal stones across the Bayanaul district.
According to local historian Akylbek Kurmanov, balbal stones are often found in the territory of Kurkeli, Kyzyltau, Toraigyr and Karatomar districts.
“Unfortunately, many of them were looted and destroyed by Soviet archaeologists and taken to museums. Some of the balbals are broken by cattle. We decided not to touch them and just make copies of them. And it was a right decision,” Altynbek Kurmanov says.
In his words, in ancient Turkic times, balbals were installed to honor the spirits of ancestors. Nomadic tribes used to make sacrifices so that the spirits of their ancestors would protect them. "Some places looked like Tengrian temples” he adds.
The copies of the balbals were installed in Bayanaul, the administrative center of Bayanaul district.
