Just to the south east of Bishkek, in the hills above the town, you can find Tashtar Ata. It is a cross between a spiritual/sacred place where there are shrines to the worlds major religions, and it is regarded as being part of the healing process when you are trying to give up or cast out your old demons. The large pile of rocks was created by people casting rocks and stones of varying sizes onto the pile to represent throwing out the old. There are a few balbals there as well as a large fire pit where it is possible to throw and burn your old clothes, again as a symbolic action of out with the old and in with the new [but please remember to bring some new clothes with you :-)]. The ribbons tied to the tree represent wishes from individuals to return to this place, and you will come across it in other places in Kyrgyzstan. We are not sure if the cat was being enticed (more like dragged) in to deal with his demons. Let ecotour.kg show you Tashtar Ata and other little secrets of Kyrgyzstan.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 16:16:01 +0000