The monument to Aikol Manas was built by the Kyrgyz Republic and donated to the city of Astana in 2024.
Sculptor: Urustambek Pazylov (Kyrgyzstan);
Architects: Bokebai Samatbek (Kazakhstan), Ulanbek Beishenbayev (Kyrgyzstan);
Project manager: Zhanyshbek Zhamurzaev (Kyrgyzstan).
The sculpture is a bronze figure of Manas on a horse mounted on a granite pedestal. The total height of the monument is 10.4 meters (the height of the figure is 5.9 m). the height of the pedestal is 4.5 m.).
The epic "Manas" has a special place in the world treasury of folk art! It has no analogues in the world in terms of text volume. It is twenty times larger than the “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, five times larger than the Persian work “Shahname” and two and half times larger than the Indian “Mahabharata”.
“Manas” is a huge epic heritage passed down from generation to generation, from century to century, reflecting the historical path of the Kyrgyz people! Its content artistically reflects the history of the Kyrgyz people, their way of life, ethnic composition, traditions and customs, rituals, religion, ethical views, lifestyle, astronomical, geographical and other knowledge, farming, ideas about the environment and nature. The main idea of the epic is that since the birth of mankind undergoes tests of strength, tests of happiness and joy, and in a period of despair throws him a lifeline, giving strength and faith. This is the immortal, eternal idea of the epic “Manas”, and its place among the priceless monuments of world culture is also connected with this ideological and aesthetic heritage.
The storytellers of the epic - Manaschi pass on the Manas epic to the next generations without losing any of its virtues! They are transmitted in the traditional way – orally, as it was before them. The name of one of the storytellers, which became legendary, has been preserved in all versions of the epic "Manas" – “Yraman yrchy uul” is one of the forty choros (forty knights).
The names of many storytellers have been forgotten. But here are the storytellers whose names the people have preserved in their memory – Keldibek Kumar uulu, Balyk Karboz uulu, Tynybek Japyi uulu, Choike Omur uulu, Sagymbai Orobak uulu, Sayakbai Karala uulu, Togolok Moldo, Shapak Rysmende uulu, Janybai Kojek uulu and other performers who continue the storytelling tradition to this day. To date, there are more than 70 complete and incomplete versions of the epic "Manas".
All the events in the epic "Manas" are concentrated around the heroic deeds of Manas, his deeds for the benefit of the people. The main character of the epic, Er Manas, is distinguished by his extraordinary heroic strength, he unites different clans, protects his people from the dominance of enemy forces, preserving their independence and freedom, as well as political unity. Besides him, an important place in the epic is occupied by the images of the sage Bakai, Koshoy, Almanbet, Syrgak, Chubak, Kanykey.
The epic "Manas" has been translated into several foreign languages. The epic was first published in German in 1885, then it was translated into Russian, French, Turkish, Kazakh, Chinese, English, Hungarian, Uzbek and other languages.
