Restless place Tekturmas

There are numerous  legends about the "Tekturmas" mausoleum, one of the national objects of Zhambyl  oblast.  The mausoleum  is included in the list of Holy places of Kazakhstan, that was created under the program "Rukhani Zhangyru". The mausoleum  is known as a religious place. However, according to the   reports of News Agency  “Qamshy.kz.” it could be  a military-strategic object with an underground road leading to the center of Taraz city.

The mausoleum is located on the right Bank of the Talas River, near the city of Taraz. Historical sources  show that the object dates back to the XIV century. However, its authors and the final purpose of the object are unknown. The mausoleum is built entirely of baked bricks. The historian G. A. Pugachenkova dates the construction of the mausoleum "Tekturmas" to the XIV century. The meaning of the word "Tekturmas" can be expressed by a phrase "the mountain does not stand still". In Turkish, the name means "restless place".

It seems that the initial purpose of the mausoleum was to use it as a place of worship. There are burial sites with evidences of Zoroastrian, Christian and Islamic culture. Evidently there were two ways to get to the "Tekturmas" mausoleum: an ancient underground road at the foot of the hill and a stone bridge over the Talas River.

The destruction of the mausoleum by atheists in the 1930s also proves that the mausoleum was a religious object. Reconstruction works started in 2001, relied on a photograph of the mausoleum taken by Russian researchers in the 1980s.

Generally, there are various legends about the "Tekturmas" mausoleum. One of them says about a commander named Tekturmas, who worked as an army officer during the reign of Saint Karakhan. As a military officer of Karakhan, who ruled a large khannate in the modern Zhambyl region, Tekturmas constantly checked caravans and passengers travelling to and from the city. He worked tirelessly on duty, that is why people gave him the nickname that meant “restless”. Later on, the place where the famous commander was buried could be called by his name.

Another legend tells the story of the city that stood on the present territory of the "Tekturmas" mausoleum. According to this legend, about five hundred years ago, the land was under the control of the Kalmyks. Local residents, who suffered under their pressure, made an agreement with Tamerlane (or Temur), who gathered his army and started his war campaign from Samarkand to Talas.  Having heard about that, the Kalmyks left the city, setting on fire all their precious jewels at "Tekturmas". 

The reconstruction of the mausoleum was carried out in 2002 on the initiative of local Maecenas Amangeldy Momyshev and designed by a young architect Nurlybek Bakeyev.  The reconstruction works coincided to the 2000th anniversary of the city of Taraz.