SACRED SPACES OF THE MARI TRADITIONAL RELIGION OF BASHKORTOSTAN: HISTORY AND MODERN TIMES

The article is devoted to the history of the organization of the Mari traditional religion sacred spaces in the period from the end of the XVIII century to the first quarter of the XXI century. The article is based on the author's field materials collected in 2023–2025, as well as reports of other authors on prayers in 2013–2024 posted on the Internet. The literature on the beliefs of the Eastern Mari is involved. The methodological basis of the research is the comparative historical approach, the method of observation, interviewing, monitoring, as well as the method of ethnographic parallels. It has been revealed that from the end of the XVIII century to the beginning of the 1930s the sacred groves of Mari continued to function in the same format. Subsequently, especially since the 1960s, during the period of the new struggle against religion, many sacred groves were destroyed and desecrated. Despite the opposition of the authorities, world prayers continued to be held among the Mari of Bashkiria until the mid-1970s, for example, mer kӱsӧ near the village of Kurmanaevo. At the same time, the practice of family and ancestral prayers was never interrupted. Nevertheless, from the late 1970s until 1991, mass village and world prayers were not carried out, even despite the weakening of anti-religious policies in the 1980s. Since the 1990s, prayer services in sacred groves have become more frequent, including through the registration of communities of the Mari traditional religion. In the first quarter of the XXI century, the most revered sanctuaries for the believers of the MTR are Sultan Keremet near the village of Tynbaevo (Mishkinsky district), kӱsӧ-oto in the village of Bolshesukhoyazovo (Mishkinsky district) and Shukun (Aktuganovo village, Kaltasinsky district). In 2023, a rite of renewal of prayers was held in the most revered sacred grove of Mari Bashkiria before the revolution – mer kӱsӧ near the village of Kurmanaevo (Mishkinsky district). Such sacred groves as of the villages of Redkino (Krasnokamsky district), Mayadyk (Dyrtulinsky district), Starootkustino (Karidelsky district) and a number of others should also be highlighted.