Annau

Last Saturday a group of us went to a pilgrimage site right outside of Ashgabat, which is known as Annau. The Annau ruins are those of an old mosque that has been destroyed by an earthquake and other natural events.



We all loaded into the van that was rented for the day and started the drive outside of the city. The fields outside of the buildings are completely flat except for a few strange bumps that seem to rise out of nowhere. There are fields of stunted trees and green wheat fields. Though the Turkmen are determined to make some type of forest, the fields of trees better resemble a Christmas Tree field with stunted trees in straight rows as far as the eye can see. There are also irrigated fields of wheat and other products, that make it seem less like a desert and more like a farming community.



The first stop on our trip was to what looked like strange mounds poking up from otherwise completely flat field. The area ended up being an ancient settlement that lasted from 5,000-3,000 (or thereabouts, I forgot the exact dates) BC. The funny part is, however, that there is a trench dug through the center of this mound. An archeologist in the late 1800s decided that he was going to look at these settlements (there are mutliple) for precious objects and dug a trench straight through it. He didn't find anything, but there are thousands of years old shards of pottery that you are walking through as you go through the trench. I could just reach down and pick up shards that probably should be studied.



We also passed a wheat museum, which is why this particular mound had so much importance. During the Niyazov era, a 5,000 year old grain of wheat was found in the mound, which prompted the museum to be built. We were told by our guide that any mounds that we saw in the otherwise flat territory used to be something that was manmade, from whole settlements to watch towers.



We all scrambled back down the hill and headed on to the ruins of the mosque in Annau. We arrived and climbed out of the van, and went up a hill to a grave site. It was covered with tiny, crude stone constructions that represented offerings and wishes that people traveled to give. From money to hair pins to string, there were various personal items that were left in tribute and supplication. They covered the low walls and the grave, and many of them contained items that were rusted or faded with time, giving visitors an idea of how old this site was and how many people have traveled to be there.



From the grave site we moved to the main ruins, which still stand fairly tall. There is light and dark blue paint on various parts, and a sign reminds visitors of what the mosque looked like before an earthquake caused most of it to crumble. I was told that light blue represented the sky and dark blue, water, both important to people in Central Asia. There are still two pillars that mark the entrance to the mosque, with hills and fallen stones marking the outside. When you look to the right of the entrance, there is still a lower part of the building partially intact. There is a wooden post alongside of that lower structure, and there are about thirty colorful handkerchiefs waving gaily in the wind, left there by pilgrims who wanted to leave an offering asking for good luck.



I walked up the little hill, through the two sides that remained of the entrance. Most of the back of the mosque is totally ruined-- just tumbling stones down a hill, but you can climb a little bit and there are still some walls that give you the feeling of how it must have been before it was destroyed. The outline of an arched window, the pillars with worn carvings, and smaller "rooms" that hold offerings from people traveling to the mosque to ask for blessings.



Central Asiam Muslim tradition is far different from any I have heard about around the world. There are far more shamanistic traditions and superstitions incorporated into their culture and way of worship. It is facinating to hear how previous religions impacted Islam in this area. There was Christianity and ZionAstricism (or however you spell/pronounce it), amongst many others, that already had a footprint here, and all of these traditions can be seen in some within Central Asian Islam. It also can be seen in the artwork found in and on the old ruins there. The guide showed us a photo of the old artwork from the arch, and told us that it is the only mosque in the world with dragons depicted on the outside. In Muslim tradition, architects and artists do not portray live beings. Instead, words, flowers, and geometrics are used. Not so much in Central Asia, which makes them even more unique. There is apparently another temple further away that had a carving or painting of a tiger, also unique in the world.

Before a visitor reaches the two pillars, there are two old sarcophaguses (sarcophogai? I don't know and can't seem to spell today). They are the most sacred parts of the site, or one of the most important, and have little altars in front of them with stones that, when spun on a finger, are supposed to tell the pilgrims something about their life or how they've been living it. Our guide was skeptical of its properties. We saw people approaching the ruins and coming with items to tie and leave as we stood there, a group of foreigners trying to understand these traditions.

I don't know if I have done these ruins justice with this description and will try to add photos later to help, but it was a beautiful trip and one I would strongly recommend for anyone who visits here.