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It’s a scenic drive to Turkestan from Shymkent in Southern Kazakhstan, about 680 km from Almaty, the nation’s largest metropolis. The sepia panorama is stark and customarily unpeopled, with camel caravans lumbering alongside. Turkestan, the religious centre of Kazakhstan was house to the Eleventh-century Sufi mystic, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. As soon as the hub of artwork, science and tradition which straddled the crossroads of the traditional Silk Route, it later grew to become the political pivot of the Kazakh steppes. It’s believed that the Turkic folks, an ethnic group with a world inhabitants of roughly 160 million, originated right here.
Most guests head to the mausoleum of Yasawi, a poet and thinker who was Rumi’s modern. With bulbous domes, brickwork, vibrant tiles and mosaics in a superb shade of turquoise adorned with geometric patterns and Islamic calligraphy, the mausoleum was commissioned by Timur in 1389. It was, nevertheless, by no means completed for the reason that conqueror died in 1405.
Solely its gigantic south portal has stood the take a look at of time, with its brick masonry uncovered to the weather and scaffolding just like the ribs of a prehistoric beast. Apart from the unique carved wood doorways, the mausoleum’s huge interiors are adorned with alabaster stalactites referred to as muqarnas. An enormous cauldron standing within the centre is product of an alloy of seven metals and sports activities inscriptions from the Koran. Shut by there’s the tomb of Rabigha-Sultan Begum, Timur’s great-granddaughter.
The founding father of the Timurid Empire introduced in mosaic employees from Shiraz and stucco employees from Isfahan to work on the mausoleum. Its vaults, domes, axial symmetry and turquoise floral decorations that boast Chinese language and Persian influences—with colors taken from treasured stones and minerals, together with lapis lazuli—grew to become the prototype of buildings in Central Asia. The mausoleum construction decayed below Russian rule; it was used as a navy depot at one level. It was restored within the 90s and is a UNESCO world heritage website at this time.
Often called the second Mecca of the East, three pilgrimages to Turkestan are thought-about equal to 1 Haj. Naturally, pilgrims far outnumber vacationers. Historical past is a mixture of the refined and the banal; as worshippers prostate earlier than the tomb, eyes closed in meditation, vacationers experience Bactrian camels or purchase prayer beads and scarves from the small stalls round. The lawns of the mausoleum are manicured, adorned with flower beds with trellised walkways, and benches on which guests sit and sip black tea and chat.
Not removed from the mausoleum is the Twelfth-century Hilvet Semi-Underground Mosque—a website for a 40-day cleaning ritual, the place human contact was negligible. Yasawi spent his previous couple of years dwelling in seclusion, contemplation and prayer right here. The ambiance is one in every of tranquil antiquity: its carved wood pillars and mats are jewel-toned; outdated copies of the Koran are stored behind glass circumstances. Not removed from right here, is an historical Sixteenth-century brick-walled bathhouse, the place outdated vessels have been preserved. In response to locals, one candle was sufficient to heat up your complete heating system.
Not all of Turkestan is historical, although. In a bid to draw extra vacationers, the Kazhak authorities pumped in lots of funds to assemble a brand new metropolis with fashionable condominium blocks, malls and a state-of-the-art airport. The centrepiece of this growth is the sprawling Karavansaray complicated owned by the Rixos group; it was opened in 2021. A Silk Highway fantasy world with luxurious inns, buying malls, an amphitheatre and eating places, the entire Disneyland-like resort complicated gives boating on waterways with bridges.
Their thought was to create a desert model of Venice. In a night extravaganza replete with dancing fountains, performers on boats enact the Kazakh model of Romeo and Juliet. The gold-coloured egg-shaped Flying Theatre turns into a magical aerial provider that permits vacationers to fly nearly over well-known locations in Kazakhstan just like the Tien Shan mountains and the futuristic skyline of its capital Astana. A spotlight of the flying go to is the mystic chook Samruk, which in response to native legend laid a golden egg that became the solar.
A brief drive from town alongside ochre stretches of flat desert terrain takes you to the Arystan Bab Mausoleum, a brick constructing with carved wood columns embellished with calligraphy. Positioned close to the traditional metropolis of Otyrar, Arystan was Yasawi’s mentor and religious advisor. A drink on the nicely right here is meant to provide one knowledge and everlasting blessings. That must be sufficient for any Rumi reader.
FACT FILE
Getting there: Journey by the low-cost provider Fly Arystan from Delhi to Shymkent
Do: Go to the mausoleum, underground mosque, bathhouse, native market, the tomb of Arystan Bab and the medieval ruins of Otrar
Eat: Strive native Kazakh specialities like horse meat, breads like bursak, Ughyur noodles, Turkish mezze and sweets like chak chak
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