A trip to the Painted Rocks, as this place is sometimes called, is best made in April-May, when life is in full swing in the steppe, the singing of larks fills the air, yellow-orange tulips are scattered along the road, and a little later, in May, poppies cover the surroundings with a red carpet. This bountiful time in the steppe passes very quickly.
The Tamgaly-Tas valley (the name translates as “stone with images”) is located approximately 120 km northwest of Almaty. Driving past the Kapshagai Reservoir, you can make a short stop, stretch your legs and admire the expanse of water.
In good weather you can even see from here the white peaks of the Zailiysky Alatau, seemingly hanging in the air. The reservoir itself is also an interesting sight: it is our man-made sea, more than 90 kilometers long, rich in fish, and in summer it offers a chance to sunbathe and swim without traveling to distant lands. After driving a couple of kilometers along the highway, you will turn onto the road leading to Bakanas and find yourself amid boundless open spaces. Here and there in the distance you can see flocks of sheep and herds of horses — the classic landscape of the Kazakh steppe.
At the 95th kilometer you turn off the asphalt onto a dirt road, and here you will understand the expression “dust rising in a pillar”. After driving for about 30 minutes, you will find yourself, as it were, on a rise from which a marvelous view opens up of the rocky canyons and the green-blue ribbon of the river. And in spring, on sunny days, the air is filled with the scent of wormwood — it is the young wormwood that smells so sweetly. It is not simply a place — it is a photo model! Foreigners call it “the Kazakh Arizona”. I do not know what Arizona is like, but ours is beautiful.
Then you will continue along a steep descent through pure sand, on which you can spot a little tortoise, a monitor lizard, a lizard or a small snake. After the descent the road turns to the left; on your right lies the Ili River valley, and on your left gentle hills with rocky outcrops, covered with flowers and blossoming shrubs. The final destination of the journey is a large rocky massif that for many years has served mountaineers and rock climbers as a venue for training sessions and competitions. So you will be able to watch this interesting spectacle as well.
Here you leave your vehicle and walk along the rocky massif upstream. On a large reddish cliff, as on a huge natural canvas, the central part of the complex is depicted — Buddha Shakyamuni and two Burkans (helpers) — Man-La and Chon Rai Chik. Beneath the images their names are written. And a little lower, to the left of this canvas, a Burkan with snakes is depicted on a separate stone. This is a guardian; the snakes around his head are depicted horned — they are mythical serpents. According to Buddhist belief, the snakes will not let a person with evil thoughts pass to the center of the complex, which is a shrine. Ignorance, too, and the unwillingness to perfect oneself were considered one of the chief evils, an obstacle on man’s path to the truth. The Burkan Chon Rai Chik (he is in the center, his image is larger, he is many-armed and his garments are richly adorned) is “the cutter of the bonds of ignorance”, while the Burkan on the right is “the keeper of wisdom”.
The composition is completed by the image of Buddha Shakyamuni himself, in the left part of the monolith, depicted modestly, greeting the worthy with a kind smile. What strikes one is the delicate technique of the stone carving, its severity and precision of line, and the elegance of the contours.
Below this complex, a little farther on and almost beside the road, there is a freestanding image of the Buddha, and next to it texts that have not been translated. But some of the inscriptions of the complex are considered to be the Buddhist prayer formula “Om mani padme hum”. Judging by the character of the inscriptions, scholars believe that this image appeared somewhat earlier than the main complex.
The images and inscriptions of Tamgaly-Tas were first surveyed and described back in the mid-19th century by the outstanding Kazakh scholar Ch. Valikhanov. He compiled a description of the monument and made sketches of the images and inscriptions. Later they were addressed by many scholars and researchers of the present day. The dating of the images raised many questions, but the accepted one is that this composition was created during the reign of the Dzungar Khan Erdeni Batur Khuntaiji, when a truce agreement (1646-1650) was signed between the Kazakh Khan Zhangir and the Dzungar Erdeni Batur. It was precisely in this period that the images of the Burkans and of the Buddha were made.
At the present time Tamgaly-Tas has become a place of mass tourism and, unfortunately, this sometimes leads to the barbaric destruction of the monument. It urgently needs protection and restoration.
After viewing the historical monument, I recommend that you go inside the rocky massif and walk through the small valley surrounded on all sides by cliffs, which the rock climbers call “the harbor”. Then follow the clearly defined steep path upward and to the right to climb onto the rocks. From there a truly impressive view opens up of the river valley, with hills stretching into the distance, and far away to the right, on the opposite bank, stands a model of a medieval Asian castle. It remained after the filming of the movie “The Nomad” and has since taken root in these parts.
