The epic Manas occupies a central place in the spiritual culture of the Kyrgyz people as a consolidating factor of the ethnos and basis for self-identity. The significance of the epic in the treasury of human heritage was recognised by the world community in 1995. The resolution ‘On celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Kyrgyz National Epos Manas was adopted at the 49th session of the UN General Assembly carried out by UNESCO and UNDP. The 1000th anniversary of the epic ‘Manas’ was celebrated on the international level with the participation of more than 60 countries. A number of exhibitions, festivals, and conferences dedicated to the epic ‘Manas’ were held in Turkey, China, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and other countries. The inclusion of Manas on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013 was the next important step in the recognition of the Epos as World Heritage.

This networking program is based on experiences and achievements obtained from the collaborative work of UNESCO-ICHCAP in the living heritage field in Central Asia over the last decade.\n\nFor reference, the networking program comes on the heels of a three-party MoU signed by ICHCAP and organizations in Uzbekistan in 2019 and was followed by a Central Asia network meeting in Kazakhstan in 2019. In 2020, ICHCAP in cooperation with International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), conducted a survey project about ICH festivals along the Silk Roads, particularly with countries along the steppe route. Regarding the survey result, ICHCAP, IICAS and Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat of the Korea Foundation (KF) held an online webinar and a strategic meeting to consider the need for realizing the multilateral values of Silk Roads-related cooperation

Throughout their history, the Kyrgyz people have lived nomadically, which then determined the direction of their cultural and spiritual life. This idea comes to life quite easily when examining the intricacies of Kyrgyz folk art and epic poetry, in particular. The main core of Kyrgyz epic poetry is Manas.

List of ICH Festivals applied for the Silk Roads Living Heritage Network Membership

Nauryz is the first day of the new year according to the solar calendar in many Turkic cultures and symbolizes the renewal of nature associated with the cult of fertility. Nauryz unites people around traditional values. Before the holiday, it is necessary to pay off debts, forgive each other’s offenses, tidy up the house, prepare refreshments, clean the springs, and plant trees. All people are in a hurry to congratulate relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors; they smile and say warm words when meeting people by chance as well as invite them over and sit down at a dastarkhan, which has a round shape like a table many more people can fit around than from behind a rectangular one. This shows the original hospitality and kindliness of Kazakhs.\n\nLegends Associated with the Name of Nauryz Holiday\nAccording to one legend, Nauryz is the name of the ancestor of Kazakhs, he did not have children. Before his death, Nauryz turned to Abdraim (the prophet) with words of regret that he had no one to leave his name. To preserve the name of the old man, Abdraim gave the name to Nauryz-kozhe. Nauryz is the birthday and death of this old man. On this day they prepare a sacrificial meal, read prayers from the Koran in memory of their ancestors. According to another version, Nauryz is the name of a beggar. Before his death, he turned to the old people with the words that he had no one to leave his name. Old people promised to cook Nauryz-kozhe annually and read prayers from the Koran in memory of him.\n\nHoliday Symbols\nThe white color on the dastarkhan is a symbol of contentment, welfare, and prosperity. Therefore, its mandatory attributes are: koumiss, kurt, cottage cheese—livestock products.\n\nThe most indispensable thing in Nauryz is the presence of a traditional dish—nauryz-kozhe on each holiday table. Kazakhs believe that in Nauryz you need to eat this dish to e fulfilled and then the year will pass in abundance. Nauryz-kozhe is a nourishing and rich soup prepared from seven ingredients: meat, water, flour, butter, millet (can be replaced with rice or corn), salt, and milk. Each component of the dish symbolizes one of the seven vital principles: growth, luck, happiness, wealth, health, wisdom, and the patronage of heaven. Nauryz is generally full of symbols. At the celebration of Nauryz the presence of the number seven was obligatory for Kazakhs, which represent seven days of the week, units of time of universal eternity: seven cups were placed before the elders with a nauryz-kozhe drink made from seven varieties of seven types of cereals.\n\nAmusements\nThe celebration of Nauryz has always been accompanied by mass games, traditional horse racing and amusements. Improvised contests of wit poets (akyns) take place in Nauryz, the holiday is not without national competitions among which the kazaksha kures national wrestling, the game of logic called toguz kumalak and of course kyz-ku and baiga horse games. Actors play theatrical performances right on the streets. Another ancient tradition of Nauryz celebrating revered to this day is called altybakan when girls and boys come together to chat and ride on a swing.\n\nAll people, regardless of gender, age, and communal affiliation are released from everyday duties and take part in fun and games on equal terms. The day ends with a performance where two akyns in poetic form competed in songs. Their competitions stopped when the sun goes down over the horizon, when good conquers evil. Then they make a fire, and people with torches light them up from go around all the neighborhoods of the village, singing and dancing, thereby completing the festival of spring renewal and the equinox.\n\nNauryz was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.\n\nPhoto : Nauryz © Nazym Malibayeva

A triad of spring festive rites—biye baylau, ayghyr kosu, and kymyz muryndyk, identified and documented in Terisakkan village in the northern outskirts of Ulytau province of central Kazakhstan—were inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List in 2018. The annual festive event starts in early May with new grass, flowers, and foals, opening a year-round cycle of reproduction and a new season of making koumiss, an ancient sacred drink. It had become the case that only the community in Ulytau province conducted this local festival from an earlier time. Now the tradition is being revived in several areas of Kazakhstan, and there is a strong interest in other countries with nomadic cultures.

A triad of spring festive rites—biye baylau, ayghyr kosu, and kymyz murundyk, identified and documented in Terisakkan Village in the northern outskirts of Ulytau District, Central Kazakhstan—is a testimony to nomadic culture surviving up to today. Regarded by its bearers as the most important annual festive event, it starts in early May with first spring warmth, new grass, flowers, and foals, opening a new year-round cycle of life reproduction and a new season of making koumiss, an ancient sacred drink.