Sacred space of the Irtysh region: historical memory and national identity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of the revival of historical memory and national identity, and the study of sacred places in the Irtysh region. The main purpose of the article is to provide information about sacred places forgotten because of the former Soviet totalitarian system. Using the well-known Marxian expression “religion is the opium of the people”, the Soviet authorities adopted it to radically destroy the religious consciousness, and the traditional belief system of the Kazakh people and pursued an ideological policy against the established religious outlook of the people. As a result of the atheistic policy of the authoritarian government, the traditional spiritual system of the Kazakh people was destroyed, the names of saints were ignored, sanctuaries were closed, and national identity was in danger of disappearing. Therefore, during the political processes, to preserve the ethnic identity and national self-consciousness of the Kazakh people, they were emasculated, in the conditions of the proclaimed ideological setting for the construction of a single "Soviet nation". We believe that the restoration of the memory of the period when the historical thread broke, the revival of the past is a reality born of the demands of the time. The article comprehensively analyzes the historical and cultural role of the sacred objects of the Irtysh region. In general, field materials in the Irtysh region show that the ritual of pilgrimage to the holy places is an integral part of Kazakh society. Therefore, the process of artificial elimination of this phenomenon in the daily life of the Kazakh people will not bring any good. In this article, the authors, based on ideological, ethnographic, and toponymic data, locate the sacred places of the Irtysh region, and show their historical and cultural significance.