Jeep tour to Beket Ata Mosque from Aktau city -
Pilgrimage to the underground mosque of Beket Ata from the city of Almaty -
Beket Ata is an underground mosque of the XVIII century, an architectural monument, a sacred sacred place and a place of pilgrimage on Mangyshlak in the Oglandy gorge. The mosque is carved into a huge rock, and consists of 5 rooms, a large recreation area is made in front of the entrance to the mosque. The front door is low and narrow. The first room is a domed structure with an oval ceiling. On its western side there is a prayer room, the mihrab which faces south. In the southeast, Grandfather Becket himself is buried in one of the two rooms. There is a Bakan tree in this room. The shape of the rooms is rounded, the height varies from 2.7 to 3.5 meters. There are niches for candlesticks on the walls. The mosque has its own caretaker, who meets people, conducts excursions, tells the rules of behavior in the mosque. Photo and video shooting in the Beket Ata Mosque is prohibited.
How to get there, visit -
The Beket Ata Mosque (Oglandy) is located 60 kilometers from the village of Senek, 280 kilometers from the city of Aktau, Oglandy locality, Karakiyansky district, Mangystau region, Republic of Kazakhstan.
GPS coordinates: 43°35'44"E 54°04'12"E
Information -
Beket Ata was born in 1750 and was known not only as a healer, a seer, but also as a scientist who knew the laws of physics, mathematics, and astronomy well. After studying in Bukhara, he again comes to his region on the Mangyshlak peninsula and builds five mosques, engages in educational and religious activities, and healing. Beket Ata built one of the mosques in the Oglandy area, this mosque bears his name Beket Ata and is the main mosque, where his grave is also located. The underground Mosque of Beket Ata is a spiritual, historical relic, a legacy of Sufi architecture. Scientists who studied it hypothesize that it was not only a place of pilgrimage and a place of education, but also an astronomical observatory for observing the movement of celestial bodies. Thanks to these observations, Beket Ata accurately determined the time and the change of seasons, the arrival of winter and summer, and precisely set the time when it rains.
Beket Ata Mosque in Oglandy gorge, Mangystau region
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