Sakha symbols can even be found in ordinary buildings that were not built for specifically cultural reasons. The sports complex “Triumph,” the largest sports center in the Far Eastern Federal District, opened on Oyunsky Street in Yakutsk in 2013. As shown in the pictures below, stylized serges, the traditional Sakha ritual pillars, have been built on the bridge to the sports complex and in the sports center building itself as well.
Another example is the Center of National Sports “Modun,” named after Manchaary, located on Кирова street, Yakutsk. Though there are no serges, the Sakha traditional pattern surrounds the exterior of the sports center.
Out of all the places which indicate Sakha symbols, the most important is Ус Хатын, where the major Sakha ritual ceremony, Yhyakh (Ыhыах), takes place. Though Ус Хатын is located 22km away from Yakutsk, I included it in this project because the ritual ceremony Yhyakh is an annual Sakha holiday; therefore, many Sakha symbols can be seen together. Yhyakh takes place in late June to thank the deities and the rebirth of nature after the long winter. At the Yhyakh ceremony, Sakha traditional folk tales, the traditional round dance Osoyochay, kumyus drinking (kumyus is fermented mare’s milk), and traditional sports such as horse racing and Sakha wrestling take place.
During the Stalinist repressions when Sakha shamans were imprisoned or killed, Yhyakh did not vanish totally; however, it had to be performed as a genre of folk music, and communion with the shamanic deities had to take place in secret.
An interest in traditional Sakha rituals emerged during the late 1980s, and the Yhyakh became the focus of the traditional events again. The Yhyakh was instituted as a state holiday of the Republic of Sakha in 1992.
The place inside Yakutsk that most strongly represents Sakha symbols is a new Sakha temple, called “Archie Diete ́,” the House of Purification. It opened on Chernyshevskiy Street in the fall of 2002. Until September 2002, Yakutsk had not had a ‘temple’ devoted to the practice of traditional shamanic beliefs.
The House of Purification is a place where Sakha people believe that the human spirit can be purified and strengthened. Ritual blessings of purifying and strengthening the spirit take place on many occasions, for newly married couples, newborns, and people before a long journey.
Inside the hall on the ceiling there are symbols of Sakha deities. The 12-meter mythical tree in the middle of the hall, “Аал-Луук-Мас,” symbolizes the fertility and prosperity of the earth. It is said that the spirit owner of the land, Аан Алахчын Хотун, lives in this sacred tree and protects the epic heroes of Olonkho.
Various spirit masters, such as ones of the forest and taiga, are displayed on the walls. In the House of Purification many events take place as well, such as Sakha music classes.
However, it is important to note that when the House of Purification was being built, there was a public dispute which included the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Yakutia that the Sakha had no right to build the House of Purification higher than the Russian Orthodox Church.
Works Cited
The information and pictures of the Sports complex “Triumph” are from http://www.sa-biysk.ru/nashi-obekty/universalnyy-sportivnyy-kompleks-tsentr-sportivnoy-podgotovki/
The picture of the Center of National Sports “Modun” https://2gis.ru/yakutsk/geo/7037510072933926%2C129.725618%2C62.03182/gallery/geo/7037510072933926/album/view?queryState=center%2F129.722754%2C62.03188%2Fzoom%2F17
Information of the Yhyakh is from http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ysyakh/themes/the-soviet-ysyakh
http://xn—–6kcbac1azfofe4cmqhvgl0bzre.xn--p1ai/stati/jakutija/jakutija.html
Pictures of the Yhyakh are from the pamphlet “Аар Кудух чэрчи мас” by Yakovlev Viliyam Fedorovich
Information of the house of purification is from a journal article,
Balzer, Marjorie M. “Whose Steeple is Higher? Religious Competition in Siberia1.” Religion, State and Society 33, no. 1 (2005), 57-69.
and from the pamphlet “Центр духовной культуры Арчы Дьиэтэ”
The first picture of the house of the purification is from http://dnevniki.ykt.ru/%D0%90%D0%B9%D1%8B%D0%BB5%D0%B0%D0%BD/489843
Rest of the pictures of the House of Purification were taken by myself
Interview with Dr. Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer and Vera Solovyeva, December 8th 2016, Washington, D.C.
Messages with Grigorii Degtiarev, December 10th 2016, Washington, D.C.
