Khakassia



Khakassia

Name: Constantine Gulyaev

Age: 34

Profession: Photographer

City/Region: Republic of Khakassia

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? 

I have been doing photography since 2012. I am most interested in photojournalism and environmental portraiture, visual storytelling about people, places and events.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?  

Khakassia is a subject of the Russian Federation and is located in southern Siberia. It is blessed with natural beauty (steppes, mountains, lakes, caverns), monuments of ancient culture that are thought to be thousands of years old, the richness of Khakassian national culture and customs, and shamanism. Esoteric Tourism has become extremely popular here of late. Khakassia has many so-called “places of power,” where there is a strong and variegated concentration of energy forces, such that people experience a wide range of unusual reactions, from deep meditation to conditions of unfounded happiness.

What is something about your city that only locals would know?

Locals call Khakassia "Warm Siberia." The number of sunny days in the republic far exceed those in neighboring regions. What is more, the Minusinsk Depression, located in Khakassia, is protected from winds by the Western and Eastern Sayana mountain ranges, as well as by the Kuznestk Alatau, which creates beneficial conditions for all sorts of life.

Shamanism has always played and continues to play an important role in the life of Khakassian society. They conduct ceremonies, lead craft groups, treat illnesses, bring the souls of unborn children to be with their countrymen, and accompany the souls of the deceased to the other world. If in Moscow millions of rubles are spent to chase off clouds from coming holidays, in Khakassia local politicians merely turn to the shamans for help in guaranteeing better weather.

According to ancient tradition, Khakass men grow their hair long and braid it in a tight braid, a kichege, which symbolizes their close bond with the heavens, the spiritual world of Tengri [The main god of the Turkic pantheon, considered to be the chief god who created all things, and which has been worshiped by Central Asian and Eastern European people’s since the sixth century, but which may have roots in China dating back ten centuries prior.]

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

Historical and natural sights: the lake in Shirinsky Rayon, the Sunduk mountain rang, Tiyum Depression, Caverns, Petroglyphs in various regions of Khakassia.

Abakan is the capital of Khakassia. The city is young (founded in 1932) and similar to many other Soviet cities. But there are things to see. For example the Khakass Republic Philharmonic, in order to experience Khakass national dances (the ensembles «Кÿн сузы» and «Солнечный луч») and music (the ensembles «Унгер» - «Созвездие»). Abakan also has tourism sites conveniently located near the city:

  • Askiz Rayon, where the Khakass people predominate, and site of the stone sculpture known as “Улуг Хуртуях тас” (Great Old Woman Stone).
  • Sayano-Shushensky Hydroelectric Station and the picturesque road leading to it along the Yenisey River.
  • Mount Kunya (Sun Mountain), with its soul piercing views of the Krasnoyarsk Sea.
  • The great Salbyk Kurgan and Oglakhty National Park.

It is also easy to get to several sites in neighboring Krasnoyarsk Krai from Abakan: Shushenskoye (the town where Lenin was exiled and now home to an annual festival of ethnic music), the city of Minusinsk, Mount Tepsey (a mountain along the Yenisey river that is considered sacred by the Khakass).

Anything else you would like to add?

The natural landscape in Khakassia surprises with its scale, variety and primordial state. Here, you can sense the true power of nature and the richness of ancient history. Being a photographer and visual storyteller, I want to return to these places again and again...

Do you have a website? www.constantinegulyaev.com



Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955