The Epic of Manas

What is it

The trilogy of Manas, his son Semetey, and grandson Seytek is the history of the unification of the Kyrgyz tribes. It was never a book: it is sung by manaschi, and each performer delivers their own version without memorizing another's. The epic began to be recorded only in the 19th century, and the records of different narrators differ from each other—this is a property of the genre, not an error.

What is in the ornament

Kumayyk, the legendary dog of Manas, remains a motif of loyalty. Bugu ene, the Mother-deer, is the progenitor of the Bugu tribe, and deer antlers are interpreted as a sign of ancestry, not as a hunting trophy. The epic is the dictionary from which these motifs derive their meanings.

Recognition

The Kyrgyz epic trilogy «Manas», «Semetei», «Seitek» was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.