Culture of Kazakhstan
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Before the Russian conquest, the Kazaks had a well-articulated culture based on their nomadic pastoral economy. Although Islam was introduced to most of the Kazaks in the seventh and eighth centuries, the religion was not fully assimilated until several centuries later. As a result, it coexisted with earlier elements of Tengriism. Traditional Kazak belief held that separate spirits inhabited and animated the earth, sky, water, and fire, as well as domestic animals. To this day, particularly honored guests in rural settings are treated to a feast of freshly killed lamb. Such guests are sometimes asked to bless the lamb and to ask its spirit for permission to partake of its flesh. Besides lamb, many other traditional foods retain symbolic value in Kazak culture.
Because animal husbandry was central to the Kazaks' traditional lifestyle, most of their nomadic practices and customs relate in some way to livestock. Traditional curses and blessings invoked disease or fecundity among animals, and good manners required that a person ask first about the health of a man's livestock when greeting him and only afterward inquire about the human aspects of his life.
The traditional Kazak dwelling is the yurt, a tent consisting of a flexible framework of willow wood covered with varying thicknesses of felt. The open top permits smoke from the central hearth to escape; temperature and draft can be controlled by a flap that increases or decreases the size of the opening. A properly constructed yurt can be cooled in summer and warmed in winter, and it can be disassembled or set up in less than an hour. The interior of the yurt has ritual significance; the right side generally is reserved for men and the left for women. Yurts are also frequently used as a decorative motif in restaurants and other public buildings.
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[edit] Islam in Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, the major religion Islam is referred to as din, the Arabic word for religion. There are other religions in Kazakhstan, however they are referred to as nanim, belief. In addition to these language disputes over the correct term to use for their own religion, there are also disputes over the true name to call God. God is known as either "Quday", "Allah", or "Tangir/Tangiri".
The first, Quday, is derived from the Persian language, and the others are synonymous with the first, and therefore are all used together to describe the one God of Islamic monotheism. Quday is the God figure proclaimed by Muhammad, the Prophets, Muslim saints, and mullahs, is also referred to as Allah and Tangiri. All these forms are accepted by the Muslim people. According to the Kazaks, their God is their God alone; other religions have a "different god" a qudayt basqa.
It is common to hear the Kazahkstan people to affirm, "Barimiz musilmanbiz, dinimiz islam," (We are all Muslims, our religion is Islam), due to research, they have also called their religion "Muslimness" to reflect their discomfort with the abstraction of Islam as an ideology and a preference for Muslim life as an experience of the community. Islam, defined by the Islamic theologians, is the ideal, which the community expects the elders to aspire; whereas this idea of "Muslimness" is the religious life of the people, including the elders.
In contrast with other Islamic peoples, Kazakh women traditionally had open face, even more unmarried woman had open braids.
[edit] Sports
Cultivated a strong interest in sports, physical education and extra-curricular activities. Kazakhstan has achieved some success in international competitions in weightlifting, ice hockey, and boxing. Kazakhstan won 8 medals in the 2004 Summer Olympics - the largest tally for any nation in Western Asia.
Football (Soccer) is also popular, with the Kazakhstan Super League being the top-level competition for the sport in the country.
A lot of professional cyclists that compete on the European circuit come from Kazakhstan. Most notable is Alexander Vinokourov whose achievements include 2 Paris-Nice's and 3rd place in the 2003 Tour de France and the Amstel Gold Race. Alexander Vinokourov leads the Astana Team which is supported by a coalition of Kazakh companies. This team is registered on the UCI Pro Tour and competes in the major races including the Tour de France.
Rugby union also has a wide following in Kazakhstan, with over 10,000 fans consistently turning up to watch the national team play. Recent big wins over Sri Lanka and Arabian Gulf have given the Kazakhstan side reason to believe that they could be contenders to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
[edit] Movies
In September 2006 the government announced that it is funding distribution of a multi million dollar movie called "Nomad" about the new-created by Kazakhstan government history of the nation. The movie started in 2003, and has been plagued with multiple development problems, finally released in 2006. News agencies reported the Kazakhstan government was sponsoring this movie as an effort to combat negative international publicity, including the comedy character Borat. [1]
[edit] References
- This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. - Kazakhstan
- Bruce Privratsky, Muslim Turkistan, pages 76-77
[edit] Notes
- ^ Tom Birchenough. "The Blood of a Nation: "Nomad," the most lavish film epic to come out of Central Asia, is a matter of national pride for Kazakhstan.", The Moscow Times, 2006-09-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
[edit] External links
- Embassy link for further culture questions
- Message Board in Kazakh Language
- The Musagetes Civic Charitable Foundation for Culture and Humanitarian Sciences Development
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