The Epic of Manas

The epos "Manas" is a true masterpiece of the oral folklore of the Kyrgyz people. It is known all over the world, first of all, because it is the most voluminous work among all known epics. In one of its versions, it consists of more than 500,000 lines of verse. In 1995, Kyrgyzstan celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of the epic Manas. Over the centuries, the epos "Manas" has been passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, while being enriched and acquiring new shades, but maintaining a clear storyline. The true mastery in narration was achieved by manaschi, the storytellers. They could tell for hours the captivating stories about the great hero Manas and his exploits. Each manaschi has his own style of narration and his own interpretation of the epos events, but the main storyline of all of them is the same. Currently, there are 35 versions of the epos recorded from the words of famous and skilful narrators S.Orozbakov, S.Karalaev, Togolok Moldo and other manaschi. The main hero of the epos is the bogatyr Manas, who united the Kyrgyz people in the fight for their independence. By the way, in the desire for independence, consolidation, strengthening and prosperity of the people is the main idea of the epic. The work consists of three parts that reflect the life of the people in three generations. The first part is about Manas himself and his fight for the Motherland; the second part is about his son Semetei and his heroic deeds; the third part is about the warrior's grandson Seitek and his efforts to unite the people. The epos "Manas" is not only the greatest work of national folklore, but also a treasure trove of knowledge about the life of the Kyrgyz people of that period (IX-X centuries). It describes all aspects of life of the people, their life, economy, customs and traditions. Information is given about the ethnic composition of the population and neighboring peoples, political and economic aspects. The information in the epos also allows to judge the people's ideas about geography, religion, medicine, and philosophy. According to the researcher Ch. Valikhanov, the epos "Manas" can be considered as a real encyclopedia of the Kyrgyz people.