Day of the epic “Manas” in Kyrgyzstan

The Elder Edda, Beowulf and the Younger Edda are the oldest literary monuments of German-Scandinavian mythology In Central and Asia Minor the epic tales “About Korugly Sultan”, “Idegei” and “Manas” are widely known These folklore works, in the absence of writing, became the most important tools for transmitting folk experience from generation to generation The subjects of literary monuments (the invasion of the Mongols, the collapse of the Golden Horde and other pages of history) are common to the Turkic-speaking ethnic groups of Russia and Central Asia In Kyrgyz culture, a special place is given to the heroic epic "Manas" - a symbol of the national unity of the people In 2013, the work was included in the List of Cultural Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which is compiled by UNESCO The Manas trilogy, containing 937,000 poetic lines, is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest epic in the world, twice as long as the Indian Mahabharata In honor of the folklore that has survived to this day thanks to oral storytellers, manachi, a holiday was established in Kyrgyzstan Every year on December 4th the Day of the Epic "Manas" is celebrated UNESCO included in the List a literary monument of the manachi version of Sagymbay Orozbakov, recorded by researchers of oral folk art in the 1920s No less famous is the version of “Manas” from the poet-storyteller Sayakbay Karalaev, who retold the entire trilogy about the life of the Kyrgyz in the 15th-18th centuries with references to more ancient periods of history Of no less interest to researchers are the versions of the epic from the akyns Ibraim Abdyrakhmanov, Togolok Moldo, Mambet Chokmorov and other manachi At the center of the story is the plot of the struggle of the Kirghiz with their enemies, the Karakitai and Kalmaks, and the unification of the tribes into one nation by the hero Manas The epic is an encyclopedia of the life of the people and the formation of their national identity over a long period of time The trilogy consists of poetic narratives about the heroic deeds of Manas, his son Semetey and grandson Seitek The epic reflected the morals of the Kyrgyz people and their customs, religious beliefs, knowledge in the field of medicine and other areas of life The epic is very popular and revered not only by representatives of Turkic-speaking peoples In 1995, at the initiative of the UN, the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Manas took place at the world level The main ceremonial events took place in the city of Talas, where the kumbez, the mausoleum, of the main character of folklore is located For the anniversary, postage stamps were issued and the state order "Manas-1000" was established The epic, which literary scholars call the steppe “Iliad,” is a highly artistic work, a poetic reflection of the life and spiritual aspirations of the Kyrgyz people Chingiz Aitmatov spoke of “Manas” as a masterpiece, perfect from a literary point of view, published in dozens of languages ​​of the world The epic was completely translated into Russian in 1941 The great Kyrgyz writer noted that his people did not participate in ancient times in the construction of the great pyramids and other significant architectural monuments But he created Manas, which has stood the test of time and has existed for many centuries