Ob Ugrian Sanctuaries on Lake Balbanty

Abstract

Sanctuaries of various ranks are one of the means whereby traditional worldview and ritual practices of Ob Ugrians are translated. Especially informative are those situated in contact zones between Mansi and Khanty residence areas such as the one around Lake Balbanty in the Berezovsky District of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, an area sacred to both the Lyapin Mansi and the Synya Khanty. On the basis of our 2023 survey, we describe two sanctuaries and their history. The fi rst one relates to Mansi mythological characters—the Chokhryn-Oyka deity and the menkv forest spirits. Other northwestern Siberian places devoted to them are briefl y described, too. The second sanctuary is related to the patron of the reindeer-breeders of northern Urals_Kevvur-khu-akem-iki. Its central feature is a large fi r tree with the deity’s mask carved on its trunk. Information about two other places where Kevvur-khu-akem-iki is venerated by the Synya Khanty is provided. The structure of ritual platforms and the way fi gures of patron-spirits are rendered are more suggestive of the Mansi tradition, whose typical features are structures made of wooden statues supported by a horizontal bar, and masks carved on trunks. The revival of the tradition venerating Ugric deities at Lake Balbanty was triggered by a private initiative and supported by governors of the two federal okrugs. Hopefully, those sanctuaries will be preserved, marking the joint ritual practices of two local groups of Ob Ugrians.