Weathering pillars in Komi. Pillars of weathering in Komi - a miraculous monument
Mansi blockheads (pillars of weathering) - a geological monument on the Manpupuner ridge (which in the Mansi language means " small mountain idols"), in the interfluve of the Ilych and Pechora rivers.
There are 7 pillars in total, their height varies from 30 to 42 meters.
Location: Troitsko-Pechorsky district, Russia, Komi Republic
Stolby is located quite far from inhabited places. From the side Sverdlovsk region and the Perm Territory hiking route. Tourists take several days to reach the plateau, but what they see is fascinating.
According to scientists, the Mansi blockheads consist of crystalline schists. For 400 million years, the wind destroyed the rock and left only 7 pillars. They say that when you come close to the poles, they hum, as if talking among themselves.
The Manpupuner Ridge is located on the territory of the Pechero-Ilychsky Reserve.
Tourists try to get to the ridge in summer, but in winter the weathering pillars are no less beautiful. By the way, in winter, when the rivers are covered with ice, it is much easier to get to the Small Mountain of Idols.
You can get from Troitsko-Pechorsk by car to the village of Priuralsk, then by boat to the Ust-Lyaga cordon. Further on the route you will be taken out by cordon inspectors having previously instructed. The duration of the routes is from 18 to 40 km (there are several routes).
Do not forget to order a pass to enter the Pechoro-Ilychsky nature reserve in the village of Yaksha, Troitsko-Pechora district.
In the north of the Urals, at the headwaters of the Pechora River, the main waterway of the Komi Republic and largest river In the European North, a narrow ridge rises - a belt stone with steep slopes and smooth passes, covered with a multi-colored carpet of high-altitude tundra. In Mansi, this ridge is called Manpupuner (translated from Mansi "Small Mountain of Idols"), Komi hunters know it as Bolvano-iz (stone blockheads), and tourists gave it a poetic name - Mountain of Stone Idols. Such toponymy is given because of seven stone giants lined up on a flat top of one of the southwestern spurs of the ridge. Their height ranges from 29 to 49 meters. All pillars are composed of hard-to-destruct sericite-quartzite schists. 
Perhaps the distinguishing feature of this miracle is that it is very difficult to get to it, and not everyone will have enough willpower, patience or means - it depends on which path to choose. And there are two of them: the first is quite extreme and very long, it includes a trip by train or car from Syktyvkar (the capital of Komi) to Troitsko-Pechorsk, then by car to the village of Yaksha, then - 200 kilometers by motor boat and in conclusion you need to walk about 40 kilometers. The second way is for the lazy and wealthy: by helicopter from Ukhta with refueling in Troitsko-Pechorsk. An hour of flight on a rented MI-8, which has 20 seats, costs at least 40,000 rubles, the round trip takes just over four hours.
The road to Man-Pupy-Ner is very beautiful in itself, at least from the open window of a helicopter. It is a well-known fact that the Komi Republic is a forest region, more than two thirds of which is occupied by taiga, but you really understand this only when you slowly fly over the ground. The helicopter flies at a speed of only 200 kilometers per hour, and you can see every lake, swamp, every snowfield in the mountains and almost every Christmas tree!
Blockheads on the Man-Pupy-Nera are visible from afar, which is not surprising - after all, their height is from 30 to 42 meters.
About 200 million years ago, in place of stone pillars were high mountains. Millennia passed. Rain, snow, wind, frost and heat gradually destroyed the mountains, and first of all the weak rocks. The hard sericite-quartzite shales, of which the remnants are composed, were destroyed less and have survived to this day, while the soft rocks were destroyed by weathering and carried by water and wind into relief depressions.
The closer you get to them, the more unusual their appearance becomes. One pillar, 34 m high, stands somewhat apart from the others; it resembles a huge bottle turned upside down. Six others lined up at the edge of the cliff. The pillars have bizarre outlines and, depending on the place of inspection, either resemble the figure of a huge man, or the head of a horse or a ram. It is not surprising that in the past, the Mansi deified grandiose stone statues and worshiped them.
The seasons change, and so does the landscape. The area is very impressive in winter, when the remnants are completely white, like crystal.
In the autumn there are fogs, and the Pillars appear through the haze - there is something divine in this spectacle. They are created by nature, but, looking at them, one cannot believe that a person could repeat something similar.
Numerous legends are associated with it, before the Pillars of Weathering were objects of the Mansi cult.
In connection with the mysterious origin of these pillars, the local population - Mansi, Komi and Russians - created various legends about their appearance.
Ancient Mansi legend
“In ancient times, in the dense forests that approached the very Ural Mountains, the powerful Mansi tribe lived. The men of the tribe were so strong that they defeated a bear one on one, and so fast that they could catch up with a running deer.
In the Mansi yurts there were a lot of furs and skins of dead animals. From them, women made beautiful fur clothes. Good spirits that lived on sacred mountain Yalping-Nyer, helped the Mansi, because the wise leader Kuuschai, who was in great friendship with them, was at the head of the tribe. The leader had a daughter - the beautiful Aim and son Pygrychum. Far beyond the ridge spread the news of the beauty of young Aim. She was slender, like a pine tree growing in a dense forest, and she sang so well that deer from the Ydzhid-Lyagi valley came running to listen to her.
Heard about the beauty of the daughter of the leader of the Mansi and the giant Torev (Bear), whose family hunted in the mountains of Haraiz. He demanded that Kuuschai give him his daughter Aim. But she refused, laughing Aim, from this proposal. The enraged Torev called his brothers the giants and moved to the top of Torre Porre Iz in order to seize Aim by force. Suddenly, when Pygrychum was on a hunt with a part of the soldiers, giants appeared in front of the gates of the stone city. The whole day there was a hot battle near the fortress walls.
Under clouds of arrows, Aim rose to high tower and shouted: - Oh, good spirits, save us from destruction! Send Pygrychum home! At the same moment, lightning flashed in the mountains, thunder boomed, and black clouds covered the city with a thick veil. - Insidious, - Torev growled, seeing Aim on the tower. He rushed forward, crushing everything in his path. And only Aim had time to descend from the tower, as it collapsed under the terrible blow of the giant's club. Then Torev again raised his huge club and struck at the crystal castle. The castle crumbled into small pieces, which were picked up by the wind and carried all over the Urals. Since then, they have been found in Ural mountains ah transparent fragments of rock crystal.
Aim with a handful of warriors hid under the cover of darkness in the mountains. In the morning we heard the noise of the chase. And suddenly, when the giants were already ready to grab them, Pygrychum appeared in the rays of the rising sun with a shiny shield and a sharp sword in his hands, which were given to him by good spirits. Pygrychum turned the shield towards the sun, and a fiery sheaf of light hit the giant in the eyes, who threw the tambourine aside. Before the eyes of the astonished brothers, the giant and the tambourine thrown aside began to slowly turn to stone. In horror, the brothers rushed back, but, falling under the beam of Pygrychum's shield, they themselves turned into stones.
Another legend says that six mighty giants pursued one of the Mansi tribes, leaving behind the stone belt of the Ural Mountains. At the head of the Pechora River at the pass, the giants had almost overtaken the tribe. But a little shaman with a face as white as lime blocked their way and turned the giants into six stone pillars. Since then, every shaman from the Mansi tribe has always come to the sacred tract and drew his magical power from it.
Since ancient times, local peoples have deified stone statues and worshiped them. For example, climbing the Man-Pupu-Ner massif was considered the greatest sin.
When you see these very impressive stone giants with your own eyes, you don’t dare to call them simply a “geological monument” or “a bizarre result of thousands of years of work of wind, rain and snow” - rather, you begin to believe in legends. Firstly, because it is difficult to imagine where nature has so much skill, and secondly, since this is a miracle, it means that its history must be wonderful and even mysterious.
The plateau is located in such a way that when everything blooms on the south side in June, there is still snow on the north side, which begins to melt only at the beginning of August. Nature did not stint on fantasy. Water and wind, summer heat and winter frost for thousands of years, how skillful sculptors processed stone ridge, removing everything superfluous in order to sculpt stone idols, reminiscent of human figures, fantastic animals, monsters, sacred statues from Easter Island. Nature continues its work today. Evidence of this - fresh landslides of boulders at the foot of some remnants. This means that, alas, they do not belong to the category of eternal ones. But for now, the stone guards are regularly keeping their thousand-year watch at the protected sources of the Pechora, striking with their grandeur and mysterious mystery of everyone who happens to be near them.
Everyone who has seen the Pillars of Weathering notes that being in close proximity to them, one begins to experience an inexplicable feeling of fear. locals claim that there were ancient temples and a place lured for spirits. According to those who have visited the plateau, you don’t feel like talking, eating, drinking here, and it’s light in your head, not a single superfluous thought. The only desire is simply to contemplate the surroundings and feel oneself in it.
They say that when you come close to the poles, they hum, as if talking among themselves.
It is the seven pillars that are considered blockheads, however, in addition to them, there are also slightly smaller stone blocks on the plateau, as well as a huge stone wall. All of them are located at a fairly decent distance from each other, on different hills, therefore, in order to touch each of them, you need to walk a total of more than one kilometer. Moreover, on uneven terrain, sometimes on uncomfortable stone ledges, with very strong gusts of wind and in clouds of horseflies.
The Man-Pupy-Ner Plateau is a very majestic place, and despite the absolutely huge expanses around, one wants to speak only in a whisper. Perhaps because you are afraid to wake up the evil spirits from the legends; or maybe because you realize how insignificant a person is before the forces of nature ...
On the Manpupuner plateau in the Troitsko-Pechora region of the Komi Republic there is one natural wonders Russia - seven huge stone giants from 30 to 42 meters high, which are also known as weathering pillars or Mansi blockheads. It is believed that these pillars were formed by selective weathering and washing out of soft rocks.
Once upon a time, stone sculptures were objects of the Mansi cult. It was believed that spirits inhabited the plateau, and only shamans were allowed to visit them on the mountain. Manpupuner (Man-pupy-nyer) is translated from the Mansi language as "Small mountain of idols". According to one of local legends six giants were chasing the Voguls (Voguls is another name for the Mansi people) and had already almost caught up with them, when suddenly a shaman with a white face named Yalpingner appeared in front of them. He raised his hand and managed to cast a spell, after which all the giants turned to stone, but Yalpingner himself also turned into stone. Since then, they have been standing against each other. Travelers who have visited the plateau say that the place is really unusual in terms of energy, all thoughts subside there and peace sets in.
Photo by Peter Zakharov:
The plateau offers a beautiful view of the virgin nature of the Northern Urals.
Photo by Peter Zakharov:
Photo by Sergey Makurin:
Despite the fact that Manpupuner is located in a remote area, this place is gaining more and more popularity among travelers and is becoming one of the most actively visited objects of sports tourism. To get to the plateau, tourists have to walk through the taiga for three days or hire a helicopter.
The growing popularity of the pillars is explained by the fact that in 2008 they took 5th place in the competition of 7 wonders of Russia and 1st place among the wonders of the Northwestern Federal District.
On the way to Manpupuner:
In order to preserve the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve (on the territory of which the pillars are located) in its original form, only 12 travelers will be allowed to visit Manpupuner at the same time, while the total number of visits to the plateau should not exceed 4 per month. If earlier tourists were free to come in the winter, now it will be possible to see the wonder of the world only from mid-June to mid-September. To control the number of visitors to the plateau built wooden house 5x8 meters, where an employee of the reserve will be constantly located, checking the availability of permits for visiting. Tourists can stay in this house in case of bad weather. The house is heated with an economical stove, firewood for which will be delivered in winter by snowmobile.
The Ural Mountains for many millennia succumbed to destruction by the elements. But neither water nor wind could cope in some places with hard stone. Such remnants of rock are called weathering pillars or remnants. One of the most impressive geological monuments on the territory of the Russian Federation is the Manpupuner weathering pillars in the Komi Republic. Manpupuren in Russia is considered one of the seven wonders of the country.
The locals call them blockheads, and the name of the mountain on which the amazing pillars are located is Bolvano-Iz in the Mansi language, which means “mountain of idols”. This name is absolutely consistent with the "functional purpose" of the place in the past. And even today, idolaters, and not only from the Mansi people, still consider this place sacred. There are many legends and mysterious stories about him, and in ancient times only clergymen were allowed to approach stone idols.
legends
Many Mansi believe in the divine origin of stone pillars. In total there are 7 stone sculptures of various heights. The smallest idol has a height of 30 meters, the largest - 42 meters. These huge boulders are located close to each other on the edge of the cliff, and only one block is somewhat apart from the others. It is shaped like a bottle that has been turned upside down. Other idols have no less bizarre outlines. Someone sees in them the heads of animals, someone - the figures of giants, someone - shamans or strange old people. The Mansi people deified these statues and never climbed the plateau where they are located - this was considered a very great sin. Especially this prohibition applied to women, since the stones symbolized male deities.
According to one of the legends, the giants who tried to steal the daughter of the local leader turned into stones. The giant Torev wanted to marry her, but the beautiful Aim refused him. Then Torev with his brothers-giants went to the fortress in which the girl lived. They broke the crystal tower, which crumbled into thousands of pieces. Locals believe that the pieces of rock crystal that are still found in these places are fragments of that tower.
Brother Aim Pygrychum rushed to her aid, enlisting the support of good spirits. They armed him with a magic shield. And when the giants were about to seize the leader's daughter, her brother pulled out a shield. Sunlight reflected from it and turned the giants into stones. The statue, standing separately, is Torev, who tried to capture the beauty, and the group of stone pillars are his brothers. This is the most romantic story about Mount Man-Pupu-Ner and its idols.
According to another legend, the giants were going to go to war with the Mansi. When they climbed the mountain, they saw the angry old man Ural, and at the same moment they turned into stone statues. Orthodox Russian old-timers believed that God turned idolaters into stones, bringing sacrifices on the mountain.
The sacredness of the place persisted until the 30s of the last century, when scientific research on blockheads began, and geologists began to climb the mountain. Scientists are convinced that this is an exclusively natural formation, and do not see in the idols any symptoms of something unknown or mysterious. They associate the original shape of the idols with the influence of wind and water in conditions of temperature differences. Also, the hypothesis that the idols could be created by hand was not confirmed. But still, they were forced to admit the phenomenality of these boulders, which turned out to be more resistant than all the other mountain "vertebrae" of the Urals, which collapsed over time.
How to get to the Manpupuners in the Ural Mountains?
The Manpupuner Plateau is located in the Komi Republic, in the northern Urals. Even if you do not know where Manpupuner is, this is not a problem, since independent travel this place is extremely difficult. Even before 2004, it was possible to go to Manpupuner by car. But road route has been closed for a long time. Those wishing to see the idols have only two options: a hike to Manpupuner or a helicopter tour. IN winter time there is also the option of ski crossings.
The choice of method depends on both physical fitness and financial capabilities. Excursions to Manpupuner are offered in a fairly wide price segment - from 30 thousand rubles. for a one-day helicopter tour up to 100 thousand rubles. for extreme tours. The journey will cost a little less, but is fraught with difficulties getting to the destination. If there is no experience in passing difficult tracks, it is highly recommended not to go to this place without an escort. The weather conditions here are complex and unpredictable, fogs are not uncommon, the path passes through swamps, and you can easily get lost in the mountains. In addition, you must obtain permission, since the attraction is located on the territory of the reserve, and pay an environmental fee. When you purchase a tour, the organizer takes care of all organizational issues.
Several tracks are offered to Malpupuner from Komi and from the Sverdlovsk region. If you find Malpupuner on the map, you will see that the nearest settlements distance is large enough. This is one of the reasons why tourists do not appear so often.
Hiking trips take from two to three days to two weeks, depending on the route and weather conditions. The Dyatlov Pass, the sources of the Pechora River, Mount Otorten along the way are worthy of attention in themselves. There are magnificent landscapes that you can admire only by choosing a hiking trip. But still, if you are not in good physical condition, give preference to a helicopter tour, because the path is really difficult even for experienced tourists.
Those who have been here say that the place is really strange. Some experienced feelings close to euphoria, others, on the contrary, became very scared. But definitely, when you see stone idols, you will not be disappointed.
Manpupuner (Komi Republic, Russia) - exact location, interesting places, inhabitants, routes.
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The Ural Mountains... more than 200 million years ago, they stood proudly on the young planet Earth and witnessed many grandiose events. Over long millennia, water and wind gradually destroyed them. And today the Ural Mountains are one of the lowest in the world. But there were places in the Urals where nature could not cope with the stone. One of them is known to us under the name Manpupuner.
First of all, under the influence of the environment, soft rocks were destroyed, and stronger ones were able to reach our days. Geologists call them remnants. On Manpupuner, the remains are huge stone pillars 30 to 42 m high.
This place is truly mystical, because the Pillars of weathering, as the remnants are also called, are so ancient that even the Mansi worshiped them during the pagan period, and in translation from their language Manpupuner means “small mountain of idols”. Mansi, unlike geologists, know the true origin of stone pillars.
Legend
The legend says that one day the giants decided to steal the beautiful daughter of the leader - Aim. Brother Pygrychum went to rescue her. For this, the good spirits gave him a magic shield. When the giants were about to grab Aim, Pygrychum pulled out a shield, and the sunlight, reflected from it, turned the giants into stone.
Manpupuner is officially recognized as one of the seven wonders of Russia.
weathering pillars
In total, there are 7 stone statues on Manpupuner. The pillars have a bizarre shape and at different angles can either resemble the head of a horse, or really the figure of a giant. It is said that stone statues even change their location. In fact, of course, they are just easy to confuse due to their changing shape.
The main disadvantage, but also the main advantage of Manpupuner is its inaccessibility. This mountain is located far from residential areas, and therefore you can reach it either on foot or by helicopter. But these same obstacles make Manpupuner an infinitely fabulous place.
The oldest stone statues as high as a 15-story building can amaze the imagination by themselves, and if we add to this the uninhabitedness of this place, we can imagine what pristine silence and purity will meet travelers on this majestic plateau. Here, as never before, you understand that time is just a convention.
Plateau of Mansi idols Manpupuner
How to get there
So how do you get to Manpupuner? If you are a trained tourist and long hiking you only joy, then boldly go to Manpupuner by land. Today seasoned travelers mastered several routes, both from the Komi side and from the neighboring Sverdlovsk region. This is very popular destination for sports tourism, and in social networks you can often come across invitations to go on a group trip to the Mansi blockheads.
If you don't like hiking and can't bear canned food and guitar songs, here's a much more expensive, less romantic, but no less exciting way to get to the Pillars of Weathering. This is a helicopter ride. This way and more sparing to the local ecosystem. The fact is that rare white moss grows on the Manpupuner plateau. And negligent tourists ruthlessly trample it, but meanwhile it grows only 5 mm per year! Flying up to Manpupuner, you can enjoy the bewitching panorama of the Ural taiga.
A helicopter flight costs from 30,000 rubles per person as of December 2019.
If these methods still do not suit you, then you can use the usual transport. All you need here is:
- First get to Syktyvkar
- then leave Syktyvkar by train or car to Troitsko-Pechorsk
- from Troitsko-Pechorsk get by passing car to the village of Yaksha
- from Yaksha overcome 200 km by motorboat
- and walk a little - about 40 km,
but on the other hand, Manpupuner will open to you in its grandeur in full.
Everyone who goes to the plateau on foot needs to understand that they will have to go through the taiga, and they must definitely have protection from blood-sucking insects, as well as good wind and moisture protective clothing. It is better to go in July, as in August the heavy rains already begin.
Hotels and restaurants on Manpupuner? No, haven't heard
It is clear as daylight that those who go to the stone idols on foot will have to sleep in tents. And there will be nowhere to eat, especially closer to the plateau. If you forget food at home, you will have to eat pasture or hunt local game, which almost always turns out badly the first time.
If you fly by helicopter, then at the departure points, of course, you can find a hotel or, in extreme cases, ask for a lodging for the night with kind hosts.
Someone thought it was an alien landscape or hand-drawn graphics? Not at all...
We habitually believe that in search of the wonders of the world, you must certainly go somewhere far away. After all, the era of the Great geographical discoveries, we say, long gone. It is all the more surprising that even in the 21st century, when, it would seem, all roads have been traveled, you can discover incredible things right next to you, which few people knew about until now.
Among these wonders of the world is the unique Manpupuner Plateau, which lurks in Komi among the mountain dark coniferous forests of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve. "Small mountain of idols" - this is how "Manpupuner" is translated from the language of the Mansi people. Komi hunters also call this place Ichet Bolvanoiz, or Small Bolvany. Idols are seven separate stone pillars at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level. The lowest is 22 meters, and the tallest goes up 50 meters - like a 12-story building. This area is inaccessible. Perhaps this explains the fact that few have heard of the plateau. Although it bears the title of one of the seven wonders of Russia.
Stepping on the plateau, you find yourself in some other world. And everyone feels it in their own way: someone experiences an incredible sense of freedom, someone, stretched out on soft and slightly crispy white moss, is energized, but some are overcome by a strange psychological discomfort, a feeling of anxiety. This is from the fact that it is impossible to get rid of the feeling that idols are watching the guests. Seven giants, lined up in a row against the backdrop of a transparent blue sky and endless taiga, upon closer examination, suddenly acquire obvious human features. Ahead of everyone is a real shaman with a raised hand. Here is an old man with a wrinkled face. Next to him is a typical Indian with an aquiline nose. With a certain angle and a certain amount of fantasy in the observer, one or another image appears in each of the idols. They stand with their faces turned to one side, as if holding - in the full sense of the word - their noses into the wind. And when you look at these frozen figures, the question involuntarily arises: how did they appear here?
The name Manpupuner migrated to geographic Maps from the Mansi language, and most likely entered the language of this people several centuries ago, when people tried to find an explanation for everything unusual, creating legends and myths. Mansi explained the appearance of stone pillars as follows: they say, seven Samoyed giants turned into idols, heading through the mountains to Siberia to destroy the Vogul people. The Samoyeds are the old name for the peoples who speak Samoyedic languages, that is, the Nenets, Nganasans, and Selkups. And up until the 30s of the 20th century, the Voguls were called Mansi. And supposedly when the Samoyeds climbed the mountain that is today called Manpupuner, their leader-shaman saw in front of him the top of another mountain - Yalpingner, sacred to the Voguls. He threw his tambourine in horror, and all his companions immediately turned to stone. When exactly this legend was born is not known for certain, however, probably since then, Manpupuner has become an object of worship and has actually been revered by local tribes as a protector mountain, guarding their peace, protecting them from the invasion of hostile tribes. And given that only a few could visit the mountain area, since the road to it was carefully hidden, it is not surprising that Manpupuner was known among the people as a sacred place.
At the same time, these lands could be known not only to Mansi hunters and nomads, who drove countless herds of deer. In the neighborhood of the Mansi, the Komi traditionally lived, which, interestingly, preserved a slightly different mythical interpretation of the origin of stone idols. According to their beliefs, these are seven petrified brothers who did not want to marry their beautiful sister to an evil shaman, for which they paid with their lives. Thus, the Komi people give Manpupuner a slightly different sacred meaning, bringing to the fore both cruelty and the great power of shamanism. The Komi believed that anyone whose foot steps into the possession of stone blockheads will suffer punishment. And, apparently, the shamans, using these legends in their own interests, turned the tract into a forbidden territory, a kind of “place of power”.
“Both the Mansi and the Komi unequivocally deified the grandiose stone idols, worshiped them, but climbing the Manpupuner was considered undesirable, and for some it was completely forbidden,” says folklorist Oleg Ulyashev. - Women were strictly forbidden to approach blockheads, symbolizing male deities. The ban did not apply only to shamans. Sacrifice was hardly the case here, and if it did, it was extremely rare and irregular. There are places in the North where sacrificial rites were performed, for example, once a year or even once every 50 years. And Manpupuner - a special case, local tribes did not seek to disturb the idols once again.
The top of the idols was revered as sacred until the 20-30s of the XX century, until the first researchers came to this territory. In 1930, in order to preserve the unique natural complex, it was decided to create a reserve. Since then, although rarely, researchers and travelers get here, and therefore there are more versions of the origin of idols.
There are supporters handmade version the appearance of boobies. They believe that we see figures made long ago by masters, which, under the influence of wind and water, have lost their clear features. But who carved them and why? If we discard the alien version, it remains to suspect the ancient shamans, who needed the idols to perform rituals. However, most researchers are sure that there is no need to talk about the man-made idols. The most skillful master, nature, worked on their creation from beginning to end. Geologists assure that there is nothing mystical in the origin of stone giants. They are composed of sericite-quartzite schists, and owe their original shape to the effects of water and wind, as well as to the temperature difference inherent in a sharply continental climate. For millennia, and perhaps even millions of years, these factors worked the mountain, destroying the softer rock, isolating from it first a wall-like rock, which became narrower and narrower, and then cutting it into separate pillars. The process was also facilitated by the melting of glaciers, which in ancient times covered this part of the Ural Mountains with a solid shell. In essence, the idols are the unique remains of the mountain, the vertebrae of its skeleton. “In principle, there are many such formations in the Ural Mountains,” says an employee of the Geological Museum. A. A. Chernov of the Institute of Geology of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Ievlev. “But these are really striking in their size. It is also surprising that when the surrounding rocks collapsed due to various factors, including tectonic movements, these survived. Their phenomenon is in their resilience."
If you approach the remnants very close, without being afraid of the overhanging stone mass, you will see many deep, almost horizontal and less pronounced vertical small cracks in the rock. This is evidence that nature continues its painstaking work today. Fresh collapses of stone blocks at the foot of the idols are another confirmation of this. Lichens also have a gradual destructive effect on the breed, which, according to the observations of the reserve’s workers, every year conquer all more space on the bodies of idols. “All this only means,” says I. O. Director of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve Dominik Kudryavtsev, - that, alas, idols do not belong to the category of eternal ones. However, their age is not at all short - for several millennia they will surely rise on the plateau, striking travelers with their grandeur.
Evgeny Kalinin, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Geology, Komi Scientific Center, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
- Similar remnants can be seen in the Krasnoyarsk reserve "Stolby", but there they consist of granite. And the remnants of the Manpupuner plateau are composed of quartzite-sandstones and crystalline schists. But, oddly enough, they are almost harder than granite rocks. I personally approached the blockheads with a hammer to beat off part of the rock, and I succeeded with difficulty. Imagine the strength! Well, the age of these idols, respectively, is no less solid. According to our estimates, it is 490 million years. It is no coincidence that this object was endowed with some mystical meaning in previous centuries, but my colleagues and I did not find modern beliefs associated with it.
Yuri Piotrovsky, Senior Research Fellow of the State Hermitage Museum, Deputy Head for Science of the Department of Archeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia:
- Megaliths for scientists represent a huge field of activity. For example, there were attempts to determine a single center for the emergence of such monuments. Now we understand that it is very difficult. There is also a theory that all megaliths can be structures of one people. A controversial idea, and it is not yet possible to confirm it. Megaliths are phenomena of human culture, and they are associated with worship. But with the worship not of stones, but of what, as people have always believed, is inside the stones. However, there is a condition: megaliths are man-made objects, and the remains of the Manpupuner plateau are not such, they are geological monuments. Although this did not prevent them from worshiping in the past.
The Voguls, the local population of the Urals, have other points of view. There are at least three legends explaining the origin of the Little Boobies (that's how it sounds in the translation Manpupuner from the Mansi language).
According to one version, for the Younger Brothers, i.e. six Samoyed giants were chasing the Voguls while they were trying to get beyond the Stone Belt. The giants had already almost caught up with the Vogulis, when suddenly, a shaman with a white face Yalpingner appeared in front of them. He raised his hand and managed to utter one spell, after which all the giants turned to stone. Unfortunately, Jalpingner himself has also petrified. Since then, they have been standing against each other.
Another legend says that seven giant shamans followed Ripheus to destroy the Voguls and Mansi. When they climbed the Coip, they saw the sacred mountain of the Voguls Yalpingner (the most Holy place for the Voguls) and understood the greatness and power of the Vogul gods. They were petrified with horror, only the leader of the giants, the chief shaman, managed to raise his hand to cover his eyes from Yalpyngner. But this did not save him - he, too, turned into stone.
In the end, we left the most romantic legend about the origin Manpupuner. As the myth says, there lived one tribe of Yugrs (Voguls, Mansi and other tribes related to them were called by a common name - Yugrs). It was so rich and happy that there were legends about it far beyond the Stone Belt. The tribe lived under the auspices of Yalpyngner, and their leader was the mighty and wise Kuuschai. The leader had a daughter, the beautiful Ayum. There was no one more beautiful than her. Torev (the bear), who lived on the other side of the Ural Mountains, found out about her beauty. And then, one day, Torev came to
Kuushai demanded from him Ayum as his wife, for which Ayum herself refused. Torev was very angry, called his giant brothers and decided to destroy the Yugrs, and take Ayum by force as his wife. Approaching stone city where Ayum was, the giant brothers began to besiege it. A great battle ensued and the power was on the side of the giants. Then Ayum asked the good spirits of Yalpyngner to convey the news of the attack on the city to her brother Pygrychum, who was hunting at that time. But Pygrychum was far away. The giants broke into the city, destroyed the crystal palace, the fragments of which scattered over the Riphean mountains (since then, rock crystal has been found here). The Ugra-Vogul tribe was forced to flee. And so, when the giants had already almost caught up with Ayum and her compatriots, Pygrychum suddenly appeared with a golden shield and a shining sword, which the spirits of Yalpingner gave him. Pygrychum sent a beam of light reflected from his shield into Torev's eyes and he turned to stone. His brothers were petrified in the same way. And so it arose Manpupuner.
As you can see, in all the legends, one constant motive remains - the presence of giants who wanted to destroy the Vogul tribe and the magical help of Yalpingner. It must be said that Man-Pupu-Ner has always been a sacred place for the Voguls, but its power was somewhat negative. Climb up the plateau Manpupuner it was strictly forbidden for an ordinary person, only shamans had access there, to recharge their magical powers. Very close to the plateau Manpupuner there are several more Vogul sanctuaries - Tore-Porre-Iz, Solat-Chakhl (Dead Mountain), where, according to legend, nine Mansi hunters died, and where the legendary group of Igor Dyatlov died (already in our times). By the way, the Dyatlov group also consisted of nine people. Yalpyngner himself is also not far away, the Prayer Stone is relatively close (on the territory of the Vishera Reserve), where there was also a temple and a sacred cave of the Voguls and Mansi. As you can see, not only Manpupuner deserves the epithet magical and magical, but undoubtedly he is the most beautiful and impressive.
And speaking of legends...
Legend of the Golden Baba.
Since ancient times there the legend of the Golden Baba, which is guarded by Mansi shamans. People used to think that this is some kind of material figure or sculpture, and they tried to find it. This is actually a treasure, but not a precious metal, but a spiritual treasure - this is what the artist Alexander Kaminsky thinks. More than once during the month he saw a luminous golden female figure against the background of a dark peak. “I think that this is one of the images of the Mother of the World.” (Or maybe it's the Mistress of the Copper Mountain Pavel Bazhov?)
Mansi legends.
However, the Mansi legends are the most interesting. ManPupuNer in Mansi it means "Small mountain of idols", and the blockheads themselves - ern pupygyt - "Nenets idols". According to a legend reflecting the ancient clashes between the Mansi and the Nenets, the Samoyed giants decided to go to war with the Mansi. They climbed the mountain and saw Tagt-Talyakh-Yalpyng-Ner-Oyka, terrible in his anger, not far off. This is “The Holy Old Man Ural at the top of the Northern Sosva”, and the giants turned into stone pillars. So they stand. And their leader-shaman dropped his tambourine. The tambourine rolled and turned into a huge mountain Coyp.
Nearby is Mount Pecherya-Talyakh-Chakhl - a mountain at the top of the Pechora. These mountains are sacred the Mansi people.
old-timer Russian population and epics.
Blockhead - here means an idol, an idol. It is interesting that the old-timer Russian population in the villages along the upper reaches of the Pechora calls stone idols heroes, transferring epic images to the Northern Urals. However, there is another name - the Male Stone with an interesting commentary recorded in the middle of the 19th century: “Watching from afar the pillars with which the peaks of the Male Stone are crowned, one might think that this mountain is inhabited by giant people. In the stories of superstitious peasants, there is a legend that the Ostyaks, making a sacrifice on its peaks, were turned to stone by the power of the Almighty as a punishment for idolatry. Komi is told that these are 7 robbers who were petrified according to the word of God until the day of the Last Judgment.
Ural - the birthplace of civilization?
According to one theory, the Urals was the epicenter of the birth modern civilization. The country of Hyperborea was here - the foremother of world civilization, from which holy cities The worlds in which the Hyperboreans lived were the Aryans. Only in the Chelyabinsk region, archaeologists have found 23 such cities, the most famous of them is Arkaim. And recently, another city was found in Bashkiria, called Bakshay, which is 1000 years older than Arkaim. All these cities are interconnected by energy channels.
