History
Religion
- Olchon region - Museums
- Legend of Lake Baikal
Olchon Island
The name of the island derived from the Buryat word "olkhon",
meaning "dry". There are many sunny days and the Sarma, the strongest
wind of Baikal, like a hurricane, carries clouds away from the valley of the
river of the same name. It is not a mere chance that Olkhon resembling the Baikal
by its shape is the main sacral place of the lake, where shamans of different
clans can perform the tailagans. On Olkhon, a shaman can enter into mysterious
relations with the nature of Baikal, and beg for good weather, lucky hunting
and fishing during the rite of sprinkling milk and vodka, and prayers-invocations.
Tailagans take place also near the sacred places of the island. The cape Burhan,
or in other words "Shaman", protrudes far out into the waters of Baikal
as a stony crest. According to old legends, the Lord of the island and neighbouring
places lived in its cave. Buryats also consider the mountain Izhimei, 1300 metres
high, as a sacral place. Somewhere at the foot of this mountain an immortal
bear was supposedly chained. Bruyats also moved across Olkhon, along the ice
of the lake, and thus made themselves at home on the lands situated on both
sides of Baikal.
"Baikal is the place where our brave ancestor loved. Olkhon is motherland
of the ancestor of our tribe." That's what Aga Buryats of the Khori tribes
sing, whose ancestors left the land of Bargudzhin-Tokum for steppes. The legend
of the Irkutsk Buryats says the shamans-women Husyihan and Aisyuhan managed
to lure a girl and a boy out of Baikal. They succeeded in retaining the boy,
but they failed to hold the girl as the waters of the lake ran high. Husyihan
adopted the boy and named him Ekhirit. He is the forefather of the Ekhirit tribe.
Ekhirit's parents were the Motley Burbot and Coast-Crack of Baikal. In other
legends and myths the actions take place on the coasts of the lake such as a
legend of the bull Buha-noion, the ancestor of the Bulaghat tribe, those of
Buryadai and Bargu-bator, ancestors of the Buryat clans. In the epos of Geser
Baikal bears the name of "Dalai", meaning boundless, great and the
Highest. Baigal-Dalai, this is how Buryats called this sacred lake. They believed
the mythical fish Abarga zagahan lives in its depth, which is considered to
be an ancestor and the queen of all fishes. Every year in spring western Buryats
made sacrificies and the rite of milk sprinkling in honour of this fish.
From the past times, from mysterious neogenic depth, Baikal fish has come. 50
species of fish, nearly 600 species of plants, 300 species of birds and over
1200 animals live in Baikal itself and on its coasts. Most of them are indigenous
only to Baikal. Endemic species occupy open expanses of water, they like clean
and cold water. Baikal is sometimes called a "living museum" as here
was kept alive an unusual group of crawfishes, worns, molluscs, sponges and
bull-calf fishes. The fish golomyanka is a self-bearing fish and fives berth
without spawning. The golomyanka's body is transparent and thaws in the sun
like ice. In former times, Buryats melted fat out of golomyanka using it as
health-giving remedy and in the family life. Grayling, sig, osturgeon and especially
omul are caught in the lake. It is possible that omul as well as seal take their
origin in the Arctic Ocean. Seal hunting has been carried on down the centuries,
fin-bones being found in the ancient camps near Baikal. The seal is one of the
totems of the Olkhon Buryats. There are many seals near the Ushkanji Islands.
There are about 30 islands in Baikal, each of which is a miracle of nature.
One can see many beautiful places in the wonderful lake—bays, coves, capes,
penninsulas with unique names: Svyatoj Nos (Holy Nose), Kurbulik, Ayaya and
Chivirkuj, Ongokon and Olkhon, Katun and Kultuk, Sagaan Morin and Davshe ...
The inlet Davshe situated in the North-East coast is the centre of the Barguzin
reserve, founded in 1916. Flora and fauna of the reserve, its mountains, taiga,
lakes and rivers are diverse and peculiar, but since its foundation the Barguzin
sable is considered its beauty and pride.
Chuzir
Chuzir is a small village, the "capital" of Olchon. The name of the
village was coined by the buryats and means "salty earth". Next to
the school is a lovely museum of lacal history. It was founded in the year 1953
by Nikolaj Revjakin. Today his daughter Kapitolina Revjakin directs the museum.
Near the museum is a small church, which is still under construction. Chuzir
underwent many changes during the last few years. Today it encounters problems
because of the many tourists: The electricity network is overloaded and this
is the cause why the village is split into two areas: One area gets the electricity
during daytime and the other during the night. Under the leadership of Nikita
Bencharov some ecotourism developed, with the main attraction being the shamane
rock outside the village.
Shamane rock
The shamane rock, formed by marbles, is the most important
site at Olchon Island. In former times it was the most important point for the
shamanism in Sibiria. But in the year 1930 the Russian goverment blowed the
rock because of the prohibition of every kind of religion. Only fragments of
the holy rock remained. Explorers found some skeletons and some caveman paintings
which are about 5000 years old.
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