Revisiting the stone statue “Ulug Khurtuyakh tas” (basing on the archive materials of A.N. Lypskiy)

In this publication the role of stone statue «Ulug Khurtuaykh Tas» - «Great Stone grandmother» in Khakass mythoritual complex, especially in ceremonies associated with human life cycle, has been discussed. The human being and life of posterity and the whole generation were the one of the most significant values in traditional society. The native religious consciousness conceived this stone as a mythological woman-progenitress, who provided for continuity and prosperity of life. This stone deity was the sacred symbol of motherhood and inexhaustible vitality of motherland for the centuries. People believed that deity implies the forces of ancestor spirits. And with it, people with their mythological perception made aware of Ulug Khurtuyakh Tas in the capacity of transcendental force, which was superior to such concepts as sexual identity, time and space. It is the source of belief and conviction to the wonder-working properties of that force, to the help of deity to men and women, who have been resorting to her in different living situation since a few centuries ago to our days. The Ulug Khurtuyakh Tas image was beginning to seem in the capacity of one of the key symbol of Khakass ethnocultural revival in contemporary reality.