Sacred objects of Tatars and Bashkirs of the middle Volga and Ural regions

The purpose of this article is to identify the "sacred" objects of Tatars and Bashkirs, as well as analysis of contemporary ethno-territorial differences related to the practice of their worship in the polls. The author performed a number of tasks. For example, the author has identified the Holy places in the middle Volga and the Urals in the Soviet period. Another task was the study and preservation of Holy places and places of worship, the current understanding of the Tatars and Bashkirs. As the methods of research the author used questionnaires, analysis of archival material and contemporary publications on the issue, comparative ethnographic and geographic research methods. The author have chosen the evolution of the phenomenon of "sacred" place in the Tatar and Bashkir society, which is manifested in its extension, pluralization and modernization, as the main problem for the article. Source the study is based on data from three surveys conducted by the author in the period from 2014 to 2016 years in different regions of the Middle Volga and Ural regions, as well as personal materials and sources on the Internet. In the study, the author came to several conclusions. According to the author the places of worship or small pilgrimages within the Middle Volga region and the Urals the possible known degree of convention should be divided into 2 main types. First is the burial place of the Sufi. Second are objects related to the Bulgarian government. Pilgrimage of Tatars and Bashkirs to the Holy places was recorded in the Soviet period and is often suppressed by public authorities of the USSR. However, the beginning of the XXI century was marked by the revival of interest to them in Tatar and Bashkir environment. However, among the Muslims have not yet developed definite points of view on the possibility of the worship of the "Holy places". Not among the Tatars and Bashkirs of the Middle Volga and Ural regions of unity on the question of the lawfulness of the veneration of the Bulgars, as the Islamic facility. Analysis of questionnaire data shows that among the Tatars and Bashkirs as sacred places are not so Sufi, how many Muslim objects. For example, the Tatar respondents Ulyanovsk region, Penza region and Tatarstan as revered by the people memorable and sacred places called Muslim objects of worship: mosques and Mecca. Interestingly, in the survey of Tatars and Bashkirs in General appear different objects of worship, having a distinct territorial and ethnic specificities. "Sacred" places play the role of ethno-territorial markers and are not confined to the Sufi tradition. Found among respondents and sacred places of the Christian and even secular sense. The veneration of the monument to Salavat Yulaev Bashkirs should be explained as a direct consequence of the expansion of the field of "sacred". The author also considers that the pilgrimage to the Holy places there from the Tatars of the Middle Volga region, to a lesser extent Bashkirs. This fact can be explained by the influence on the spiritual culture of the Tatars of the Middle Volga monuments of Volga Bulgaria, whose territory mostly encompassed this region. Finally, the author believes that in modern conditions of sacred places of Tatars and Bashkirs have become attributes of not only religious consciousness but also ethno-territorial identification, which is a consequence of a General pluralization of spiritual culture Russia.

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