Tamgaly-Tas ("Stone with marks") is located 120 km north of Almaty near the Ili River, where many petroglyphs, images of mysterious gods, and later Buddhist inscriptions have been preserved on the rocks. Among the petroglyphs there are thousands of rock carvings, the most famous of which are Buddha Shakyamuni, Buddha Amitabha from the Infinite Light of the Buddha and Avalokiteshvara from the Bodhisattva of Infinite Mercy. In addition to Buddhist paintings and inscriptions, there are stones with ancient Türkic runic inscriptions of the 8th-9th centuries, which are believed to have been left by the Kipchaks. Tamgaly-Tas is a cultural monument under the auspices of the government of Kazakhstan and an open-air Buddhist temple.
Renato Sala, an Italian archaeologist, described this place as: Tambaly tas is a rare monument. It is a sacred Buddhist temple that was used for prayer and meditation. Images similar to these have been found in Kyrgyzstan, China, India, Pakistan and the homeland of Buddhism in Tibet. The birthplace of Buddhism is modern Nepal.
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