Archaeological monuments of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

“If you leave the Way, it is because you hoped to receive conviction from it. You are looking for conviction, not self-knowledge."

Bahauddin Muhammad ibn Burhanuddin al-Bukhari.

Ancient and medieval monuments of Kyzylorda region.

Kylyshty ata mausoleum is located at an altitude of 162 meters above sea level, is located among numerous irrigation canals and rice paddies, 10 meters north of the Tolegatai Baba mausoleum on the Tolegatai-Kylyshty religious complex, 11 kilometers from the eastern edge of the Kyzylkum sands, 16.5 kilometers west of the left bank of the Syrdarya River, 9.8 kilometers southwest of the village named after Mashbek Nalibaev (Akzhol), 6 kilometers southwest of the village of Abdigappar, in the Zhanakorgan district of the Kyzylorda region.
Kylyshty ata, a famous saint in these places, became famous for his militancy and invulnerability in battle - he could only be killed during prayer. Having found out this secret, the enemies broke into the mosque where he was praying, but he did not want to interrupt it and, together with his companions, was hacked to death.
This is one of the variants of his name, why Kylyshty ata got his nickname (“Klysh” - saber). There is another version: in battle, he only chopped heads with a saber. In the recent past, the mausoleum was completely destroyed (according to some evidence, due to a fire) and replaced by a handicraft building, which was demolished, making room for a new mausoleum, the construction of which is still ongoing (2006).
The ruined mausoleum was erected from rectangular adobe bricks (7 x 22 x 35/42 cm) using timber for load-bearing elements. The monument was a rectangle with a flat ceiling on columns, the entrance opening was oriented to the southeast and was located in the aivan, formed by two walls with five-meter-high towers, between which a roof of poles and reeds was arranged.
There were two rows of columns in the interior, and arched niches in the walls. Approximately in the middle of the main nave, going from the entrance, a rectangular opening was left in the roof for going upstairs, where a wooden staircase led.
On the roof above this opening there was a light structure of poles in the form of a truncated pyramid, above which a flag (a pole with white matter) was raised. There were several rectangular adobe tombstones of various sizes, oriented north-south along the long axis.
The largest of them, located in the depths, belonged to Kylyshty ata himself, it was covered with white cloth, and a skull of a cat lay above the headboard, in addition, there was a wooden block at its headboard, and a niche was arranged in the wall.
Another similar structure was added to the southwestern corner of the monument, but smaller (8.05 x 9.65 meters), according to legend, it belonged to Tolegetai Baba, the son-in-law of Kylyshty ata, a famous person, the ancestor of most of the clans of the Kazakh Naiman tribe.
The modern tomb of Sayyid Kamalletdin-uly Kylyshty ata is square in shape, covered with a spherical dome resting on columns, with a portal entrance. The mausoleum is made of red brick. The facade of the mausoleum is crowned with a rectangular portal.
Its facades do not have a special decor. The doors of the tomb of Kylyshty ata are decorated with a carved double-leaf door, decorated with a floral pattern. On top of the mausoleum above the sagana, a spherical dome with a light window and a night light lamp is crowned.
Immediately from the entrance - to the right and to the left - placed on the posters of the biography of Klyshty ata and his family tree. Inside the tomb in the central part under the dome there is a green marble sagan.
On both sides of the sagan in the form of an arc, there are quadrangular columns, which are a kind of load-bearing structures supporting a hemispherical dome. The floor of the tomb is made of rectangular marble slabs.
Behind the grave, on a plate made of polished gabbro, the genealogy of Sayyid Kamalletdin-uly Kylyshty ata, who lived in the XIIth - XIIIth centuries, is engraved. The slab is attached to the wall with bronze metal bolts.
Historical information about the Kylyshty ata mausoleum: The complex was built in 1992 at the burial place of the famous batyrs Tolgetai Baba - Kylyshty ata. The author of the project is the architect Bek Ibraev.
Geographical coordinates of Kylyshty ata mausoleum: N43°45'38.82" E67°04'14.86"
Geographic coordinates of Tolegetai-Baba complex: N43°45'37.16" E67°04'15.11"

Authority
https://kyzylorda-pamyatniki.kz/ru/monuments/kzo/movzaley-Tolegetay-Kylywty-ata

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.