Burana Tower is the remains of the ancient civilization of Kyrgyzstan. Legend of construction
One of the most famous historical monuments in Asia is the Burana Tower. It is located in Kyrgyzstan near the city of Tokmak. The name comes from a distorted word “monora”, which translates as “minaret”. That is why it is believed that this is one of the first temples erected in Kyrgyzstan.
External structure of the Burana Tower
Despite the fact that there are many minarets scattered in this area, the execution of the tower is significantly different from other similar buildings. Its height is 24 meters, but the building was not always like this. According to conventional calculations, its original dimensions were from 40 to 45 meters. The upper part was destroyed hundreds of years ago due to strong earthquake.
The shape of the monument resembles a cylinder, which tapers slightly towards the top. The main parts of the building include:
- foundation;
- podium;
- base;
- trunk.
The foundation goes underground to a depth of five meters; it rises about a meter above the ground and forms a podium. The dimensions of the base are 12.3 x 12.3 meters. The facing of the western and southern edges is made of marble, and the main part is made of stone based on clay mortar. The plinth is located in the center of the podium and has the shape of an octagonal prism. The towering trunk is made of figured masonry, which is why it looks unusual in the photo.
The history of the creation of the monument and the legend about it
According to average estimates, the Burana Tower was built in the 10th-11th centuries. This period is associated with the development of the Turkic state of the Karakhanids. It occurred as a result of the merger of several tribes of the Tien Shan, who decided to switch to a sedentary lifestyle. The capital of their state was Balasagyn. In its vicinity, majestic minarets began to be erected, the first of which was the Burana Tower. The fact that the structure was significant from the point of view of rituals is evidenced by the numerous tombstones scattered around the cylindrical tower. 
Numerous excavations indicate that the tribes inhabiting this territory sought to strengthen Islam, which is why they developed various crafts and decorated their minarets with unusual techniques. It is believed that the first temple was also decorated with a dome, but due to the earthquake it could not be preserved.
According to legend, the collapse of the upper part occurred for a completely different reason. They say that the Burana Tower was erected by one of the khans, who wanted to protect his daughter from a terrible prediction. The girl was supposed to die from a spider bite on her sixteenth birthday, so her father imprisoned her at the top of the tower and constantly made sure that not a single insect got into her food or drinks. When the significant day arrived, the khan was happy that no trouble had happened. He went to his daughter to congratulate her, and took with him a bunch of grapes. 
By tragic accident, it was in these fruits that a poisonous spider hid, which bit the girl. Khan wept so much from grief that the top of the tower could not stand it and crumbled. Not only because of the unusual legend, but also because of the scale of the construction, tourists are trying to find out where historical monument to go on an exciting tour of Asian attractions.
Burana Tower is a famous architectural monument of the Kyrgyz people. This is the most ancient building in Central Asia, which is located 80 kilometers from the capital of Kyrgyzstan - the city of Bishkek and 12 kilometers from the city of Tokmak on the territory of the ruins of the Burana settlement. Her appearance associated with Uzbek architecture. If you don't know what to see in Kyrgyzstan, be sure to visit this attraction and historical site.
Legend of construction
There is a whole legend regarding the appearance of the Burana Tower, one of the most popular and famous among the myths and legends of Kyrgyzstan. One Kyrgyz khan had a daughter, Munara (the name translated means “tower, minaret”), whom he loved and protected very much. But one day an astrologer predicted that the girl would only live to be sixteen years old and die from a spider bite.
Khan built high tower, below which he imprisoned the astrologer, and upstairs he settled his daughter all alone. She grew up in a tower, admiring nature only from the windows in the dome.
The servants brought the khan's daughter water and food, while they were thoroughly searched. But, despite all the precautions, on her sixteenth birthday the girl was bitten by a spider and died.
Description
The Burana Tower in Kyrgyzstan is considered the earliest and most outstanding architectural structure Central Asia. The word “Burana” means “minaret”. Similar buildings were erected near cathedral mosques. The tower consists of several elements: foundation, podium, base and trunk.
The foundation is made of stone at a depth of 5.6 meters, its upper part looks like a quadrangular podium. The eastern and northern edges of the podium are lined with marble blocks. The buildings were adjacent to the western and southern sides, so they do not have a formal design.
An octagonal plinth five meters high is installed in the center of the podium. On all its faces in the center there are arched niches with relief filling made of burnt brick. The niches are decorated with frames made of rectangular ornamental frames.
A round trunk, tapering upward, rests on the base, the surface of which is decorated with alternating stripes of figured and smooth brickwork.
Initially, the height of the minaret was forty meters, the top was crowned with a dome-lantern, which had four doorways - on the cardinal points. Today the height of the tower is 21.7 meters - the rest was destroyed during a strong earthquake in the 15th century.
What is inside
The entrance to the tower is located on the south side. From him to the top of the minaret goes spiral staircase with steps made of burnt brick and covered with juniper boards. It is quite narrow - one person can hardly walk along it. Along the stairs there were skylights made directly into the trunk. From the top of the tower there is a beautiful view of the fort.
Surrounding area
The Burana Tower in Kyrgyzstan is located in a city that was once very technologically advanced and modern. It had a plumbing system made of clay pipes.
Water came into them from the nearby mountains. On the territory of the settlement there is a huge burial, decorated with unusual idols - stone sculptures of babals. These sculptures are made with careful detailing of facial features and headdress. There are also simple petroglyphs (rock carvings).
Restoration of the tower
Research on the tower has been carried out by Russian scientists since the mid-19th century. Under Soviet power, measures were taken to preserve the architectural monument and archaeological study of the settlement. Excavations made it possible to establish that the settlement has a complex layout and consists of the ruins of a quadrangular fortress.
In 1970-1974, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz SSR carried out the restoration of the Burana Tower. As a result, the destroyed areas were restored along the remaining height of the tower, and the octagonal base was re-laid.
One of the main attractions; located 12 km south of Tokmak. There are several versions among people about the origin of this tower. According to one of them, it has existed since the mid-10th century, since the existence of the Karakhanid state. Today she is valuable architectural monument and refers to the version of our site.
It is believed that the height of this structure, which was once a Buranino minaret, reached 40 meters. However, after one earthquake, only a little over 20 meters remained from the tower. The upper part was knocked to the ground. The tower is made of burnt brick and tapers towards the top. It consists of a foundation, a base and a trunk. The entrance is located at a height of 6 meters. A spiral staircase leads to it. The Burana Tower has historical significance for the Kyrgyz and is considered a museum-reserve.
The path to the attraction lies through the Kyrgyz ridge. Geographically, it is located on the left bank of the Chu River. If you drive from Bishkek towards the Kegety gorge, then in a couple of hours you can get to the Burana Tower.
Photo attraction: Burana Tower
But this was the only correct option, not to spend the night in the courtyards of the capital.
In two cars we first got to city of Tokmok (Kyrgyzstan Tokmok), and from there, from the monument to the legendary historical figure Manap Biy, we were picked up by a young “Kent” in a bright jacket before turning to Burana.
And we overcame the last section with a local Kyrgyz man, who was very worried about our overnight stay today. When he found out that we were going to the Burana Tower, he suggested asking to go to the house of the guard of the architectural and archaeological museum, in case he would allow it. That's what we decided to do.
At the entrance of the archaeological complex we were greeted by two idols and, thank God, the gates were still open to the public. The tower is not difficult to notice, because relative to the half-meter-high ruins nearby, it seemed tall, which attracted the eye. In the setting sun the Buranovskaya Tower looked very beautiful. We were afraid of only one thing - not having time to climb to the very top. Burana is a distorted “monara” (minaret), and since ancient times it has meant the entire surrounding area.
Burana Tower(it is also called Buraninsky minaret) - built in the X-XI centuries. and is located among the ruins Buraninskogo settlement, 12 km from the city Tokmak V Kyrgyzstan, On the left coast Chu River. According to historians, the fort is all that remains of Balasangun city – ancient capital Karakhanid dynasty(“black khans”)
There was no need to look for the security guard; he himself came out to meet the last visitors. A quiet Kyrgyz, after talking with us he allowed us to stay in his house. True, he said that we would have to sleep on the floor at the entrance. It’s not scary, we’re no longer used to it.
Burana Tower and its legend.
Then he handed us the key to the grate so that we could climb the tower. Leaving our backpacks in the house, we rushed headlong to the rickety monument.
The height of the tower (minaret) was initially 46 meters, but after the earthquake only 24 meters remained. There is, of course, another version, which is more legend than truth:
“One powerful khan had a beautiful daughter named Monara, who was predicted to die from a spider bite on her 16th birthday. The Khan was upset and ordered the construction of a high tower, in which he placed his daughter all alone.
The servants brought her food and water, searching the contents of the basket and their clothes down to the thread to make sure there were no insects. And finally, the day of Monara’s 16th birthday arrived, the khan himself came to congratulate his daughter, happy at the thought that the prediction had not come true. He brought his daughter a bunch of grapes in which a spider was hiding, which bit Monara. The girl died, and the khan, overcome with grief, hit the tower so hard that the top fell off, leaving behind the ruins that we see now.”
Having climbed the stairs, we found ourselves at the very top, from where we could admire not only the sunset, but also the surrounding area. From here we saw:
- leftovers palace complex or temple that existed here until the 10th century;
- ruins of two mausoleums;
- a whole field with stone sculptures.
Therefore, immediately after the descent, we naturally went to examine all the listed “finds”, which we began to study in more detail in the morning.
Stone sculptures - “balbals”.
Stone sculptures (balbals)- a type of monuments common in the territory of Northern Kyrgyzstan in the habitats of nomadic Turks. They are collected from destroyed ancient Turkic burial grounds mainly from the Chui Valley, but there are also statues from Issyk-Kul and Tien Shan.
On the territory of the archaeological museum there are 80 sculptures, which are figures with careful detailing of the face, hairstyle and other objects, but there are also primitively made sculptures. Now you understand why we finished watching them in the morning, we wanted to watch them all :).
Before the spread of Islam, such sculptures were installed on the graves or ritual structures of the Turks themselves. In the collection, you can mostly find images of male warriors, less often - women.
Monuments - epigraphs.
They are represented by tombstones with inscriptions in Arabic. Collected from Muslim cemeteries in places closest to the Buraninskoye settlement and dating back to the 14th – first half of the 20th centuries. On the steles you can see sayings from the Koran, as well as the name and year of death of the deceased.
Rock paintings – petroglyphs.
Petroglyphs in the form of images of various animals (mainly deer) can be seen on stones laid out in several parallel rows. On the territory of Kyrgyzstan, rock paintings can be found in the regions of Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Alai, etc. They date back to the 2nd thousand years ago. BC e. – XVI century
Stone tools
In addition to stone sculptures, I was surprised to find these stone “wheels” here - millstones (X-XII centuries), found on the territory of the Buranin settlement.
Overnight on the territory of the Buranovsky settlement.
We walked around the territory of the archaeological museum until almost dark; I don’t remember the last time architectural monuments aroused such interest in me.
By the way, the whole story can be read right on the territory of the settlement; special “iron books” were placed next to the house in two languages – Russian and Kyrgyz.
We returned to the guard, he just boiled the kettle and treated us to what we had: tomatoes, cookies, apples. We also took out all the food we found in the backpack. It’s a pity we found the Kyrgyz not talkative, so we decided to go to bed so as not to sit in tense silence.
As I already said, in the morning we walked again through the territory of the Buranovsky settlement, and finally, for helping the guard and for the ticket, at his request, we left 10 soms (7 rubles). The last thing I wanted to see in Kyrgyzstan was. I understood what it was big lake with all sorts of hiking trails over the nearby mountains, which we no longer have the strength or desire to climb. But being in Kyrgyzstan and not even looking at Issyk-Kul is a crime, as many travelers would say. Therefore, it was decided that we would stop there on the way home.
The Burana Tower is part of the Buranin settlement, located 12 km from the city of Tokmok. The results of archaeological studies of the settlement suggest that these are the remains of the city of Balasagyn, which from the 7th to the 13th centuries was the capital of the developed and powerful Karakhanid Khaganate. This state was created by the nomadic peoples who inhabited the Tien Shan. Already in the 10th century, the eastern borders of the Kaganate were Semirechye, and the western borders were the Amu Darya delta. At this time, nomadic tribes became sedentary, crafts and trade relations developed.
The capital of the Kaganate, Balasagyn, was located at the intersection of trade routes and was a city with a sufficient developed infrastructure. With the advent of the Islamic religion in these lands, places of worship- mosques. Minarets were built near them, Arab. “manara”, which is where the name Buran comes from.
The main purpose of the minaret was to call believers to prayer; this building was built of baked brick, similar to Arab lighthouses. The square foundation of the tower is deepened by 5 meters, the height of the octagonal base is 4 m, and the round trunk, tapering towards the top, rises to 18 meters. The upper part of the tower, supposedly about 20 meters high, destroyed by earthquakes, was a dome-lantern. You could enter the minaret from the roof of the mosque or, in our time, from a ladder, since the entrance is located 6 meters from the ground. The top of the tower is reached via a spiral internal staircase.
Archaeologists believe that the Jami Mosque (late 10th – early 11th centuries) was located on the western side of the Burana minaret. To the east of the tower are the ruins of three mausoleums. According to legend, the Burana Tower was erected by the ruler of the city for his daughter, wanting to protect her from the predicted death. However, the girl’s death from the bite of a black scorpion could not be avoided; the tower served as her tomb, and soon her father was buried nearby.
The city of Balasagyn survived the invasion of the Mongol horde without losses, thanks to the significant amount of ransom presented to Genghis Khan. The Mongols noted the friendliness of the townspeople, naming the city Gobalyk, i.e. "kind, good." However, this did not bring the desired prosperity; according to archaeological finds, Balasagyn died out from the plague in the 14th century.
Now the ruins of the once prosperous capital of the Karakhanid Kaganate are an archaeological and architectural open-air museum.
Video: Burana Tower
