Long before Russians began settling southern Siberia, the Altay people lived in the area and followed their own customs. The ancient mountains are the land of fascinating cultures, unique folklore and legends.
The ribbons are meant to show respect to powerful spirits and ask them for good luck. People believe that each mountain, lake or river has its own spirit that watches over the place.
Altaydyn-Ezzi, or the Master of Altay, is the main spirit that lives in the mountains and watches over the entire region. When passing a sacred mountain range, it’s important to take a stone from the bottom of a mountain and leave it at a certain place to honor Altaydyn-Ezzi. After hundreds of people pass the place a pile of stones appears on the top of a mountain. Locals call these piles Obo.
If spirits are pleased with Obos and other symbols that honor them, people live in peace and harmony with everything they need.
One of the worst things a person can do in the Altay is to disrespect a spirit and make it angry. In many cases an angered spirit means trouble would follow soon.
Once upon a time, one summer turned out to be extremely hot and dry. To escape from the scorching sun, people started spending their time inside caves. Suddenly, children, who were playing deep in the caves, began to go missing.
Realizing their mistake, the people quickly left the caves and told everyone not to get close to them.
To this day, locals say it’s a bad omen to yell and make other loud noises when visiting caves in the Altay Mountains, as one might attract the unnecessary attention of the Olysy, the evil spirits of the caves.
While hiking near Lake Teletskoye in the Altay Mountains, I came across a grotto on the top of a hill. Since I just heard the story about the Olysy from a tour guide a day before, I thought it’d be best not to step inside the cave and accidentally become one of the characters of from the movie Descent.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
