Chaga Bayram is a traditional national holiday of Altaians. “Chaga Bayram” is translated as White Month’s Holiday and is considered as the start of the new year. The date is determined by the lunar calendar (usually in the period from the end of January till early March) and it corresponds to other similar holidays of Turkic people such as Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia, Sagaalgan in Buryatia, Shagaa in Tyva and also the Tibetian New year. The date of celebrating in Altai is chosen by the Governor of the Republic in one of the first three even days after the New Moon. In 2024 the celebration will be held on the 17th of February.

For nomads this period of time has great significance. It is the start of a new stock-raising period, time to sum up results and have a short rest before a very busy period of animal yield.

Chaga Bayram is an ancient holiday, which has delivered traditions of our ancestors through the centuries. Usually it starts early in the morning with a special ritual with the main idea – renewal of nature and people.  The patriarchs make the first fire of a new year and start praying to the Spirit of the fire, accompanying it with the ritual of feeding the fire. They ask the spirits of Altai for blessing the holiday itself, for peace and prosperity to the motherland, for well-being and health to all people and animals.

After the ritual the festival part of the holiday starts. Usually the celebrating of Chaga Bayram is very cheerful. There are theatrical performances, parades, sports contests, tobogganing, exhibitions of traditional crafts and national cuisine.

A very interesting ritual takes place – rolling down a mountainside. It is believed that while rolling, a person absorbs the power of the earth, attracts grace, good luck, and the snow cleanses from all evil. Also, the participants, accompanied by cheerful laughter and approval, compete in the distance of the roll, the further, the happier this person will live the coming year.

Joy and good mood reign on the holiday, people celebrate the arrival of the new year, as a new cycle of life. Winter is coming to an end, the revival of nature, new hopes, new events are ahead.

This year a lot of events will be held in the main square of Gorno-Altaisk city as well in the big villages.

On the pictures – celebrating of Chaga Bayram in 2017 and 2018 organized by Sailugem national park for local farmers.
Credit: Sailugem national park

Usually on the second day of our trips, we get better acquainted with the local culture enjoying a kaichi concert. A kaichi is a story-teller who tells epic legends and an Altai’s heroic epos using throat singing and national musical instruments. You can learn more about the kaichi on our site: https://www.kaichitravel.com/about-kaichi.

This year we met a very interesting person – Boris Mikhailovich Kindikov. He is a teacher, musician, artist, crafter and researcher of local history and culture. So, he complemented his concert with telling interesting stories and legends. It was funny when he involved both children and grown-ups in the concert, giving them very specific musical instruments like sheep horn to accompany him.

Besides, this evening we watched the fashion show of felted garments. The collection was made by a local designer based on historical and national motives. The show was held outside with beautiful nature around which made it very impressive.

In our last trip we were much impressed while visiting an unusual monument in the Karakol valley – the monument to a ground squirrel. It was built on the eve of the Victory Day this year with the gratitude to the small animal which saved people from starvation during World War II.

The monument is made as a figure of a skinny, barefoot boy with an Altaian coat on one shoulder holding a ground squirrel in his hands. The boy has no face, only mirror surface. According to the author’s idea e, everybody can see their relatives or just people who suffered during the war in the surface.
The monument is installed on the top of the hill with a beautiful view over the valley. We found out that it is really of great importance to the local people – during our stay 3 old ladies came and climbed up the hill though it was not so easy.

We think it is not such a common idea for us, that people had to kill animals for surviving and at the same time were thankful to them and even have been keeping gratitude till nowadays. Maybe the local people living in Altai are still closer to nature…
P.S. There are still living a lot of ground squirrels in the Karakol valley.

The carpet was discovered during an archaeological excavation from the grave of a Scythian nobleman in 1949 in the Pazyryk Valley in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. Radiocarbon testing showed that it was woven 2,400 – 2,500 years ago. So it is considered to be the oldest known Oriental rug.

The carpet is so well preserved due to the layer of ice and permafrost which appeared in the tomb.
The advanced technique used in the Pazyryk carpet displays a very high level of skill and intricacy. It is 183 by 200 centimeters and has 36 knots per square centimeter, many of the modern rags have a lower density of knots. The carpet pile is only 2 mm thick.

It has a very complex design consisting of a skillful combination of geometric, floral and pictorial patterns. The inner field contains 4 x 6 identical square frames, each filled by star shaped ornaments. It is followed by five border bands.
The first and fifth bands depict griffins (mythological creatures).

The second inner band represents grazing deers.

The forth band is the most interesting as it shows horsemen in the saddle and men leading horses. They go in the opposite direction to the deers.

The design of the carpet already shows the basic arrangement of what was to become the standard oriental carpet design.

The place of the Pazyryk carpet’s production is still a subject to scientists’ debates. Sergei Rudenko, who discovered the Pazyryk carpet, made a conclusion that it was a product of the contemporary Achaemenids. The carpet was most likely brought to Siberia and presented to the nobleman in whose tomb it was found.

Since ancient times Altai mountains have been a historical, cultural, and natural temple for many people and nations. All of them left a mark in Altai’s history which is full of mysteries, world-known discoveries and dizzying achievements.

Our new trip “Altai Heritage” is specially designed to highlight the brightest spots, visiting sites of the great interest, looking at artifacts with one’s own eyes and hear the stories that you are interested in from the locals who live there.

The route covers the territory of Altai krai. We will start and finish in Barnaul, the capital of Altai krai.

Our first destination is the remotest place in history – world-known Denisova cave. A special branch of human evolution was discovered there and was given the name Denisovans. They lived here 40 -50 thousands years ago and according to a bracelet and a needle that has been found – they were more technologically advanced than Homo sapiens or Neanderthals in the same period.

Then our time travel will take us to the 5-6 century BC, the time of the highly developed but almost unknown Scythian civilization. Real masterpieces of golden jewelry and skillfully decorated household items were found in their frozen tombs.

We will find ourselves in the 17th century when we visit to the Old-Believers home. They moved to the secluded corners of Siberia separating from the official Russian Orthodox Church and have kept living in a traditional way for centuries. 

Zmeinogorsk city will show us the great technical achievements of the 18-19th century when it was the major supplier of gold and silver in Russia and one of the largest metallurgical centers in the world. We will visit the Kolyvan stone-cutting factory, a functioning enterprise with a legendary history. Kolyvan vases that were produced in the 19th century are shown as masterpieces in famous museums throughout the world these days.

Although we will teleport with very big steps through the history of Altai, we will take the time to enjoy the delightful landscapes of the Altai highlands every day. Special hikes to the most fascinating places will show you the Altai nature in all its beauty.

Have a look at itinerary and trip details and join us!

On the 1st of April we visited a concert of traditional Altai singers – Bolot Bairyshev and Radmila & Emil Terkishevs.
Bolot Bairyshev is a famous performing musician of traditional altai epos by throat singing. He has a masterful command of national musical instruments – jew’s harp, topshur and shoor. He is a participant of international festivals and projects all over the world – in France, Austria, Hungary, Japan, Germany, Turkey and other countries.
Here you can find a video clip of Radmila & Emil Terkishevs which shows the beauty of the Altai mountains, national customs accompanying by a nice song in the national style.

You can see it with your own eyes when you take part in one of our trips.