Gozli Ata - All seeing Father

The mausoleum of Gozli-ata is situated in the Balkan region in the west of Turkmenistan. It lies 157 kilometers away from Turkmenbashi. The Gozli Ata mausoleum is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Turkmenistan. And the place dedicated to a revered Sufi, Gozli Ata which means All seeing Father.

A positive sign is a visit to the holy spot, the cemetery of Gozli-Ata and the grave of the legendary ancestor of Turkmen-Ata. Religious services are conducted at the mausoleum and the tomb of the saint, and stories are heard about the great commander. During the Middle Ages, Gozli-ata, or Uzynhasan, was a mysterious personality and spiritual chief of the Balkan Turkmen tribes. The sage unified the Turkmen tribes at the age of 102 to combat the army of the Khiva Sufian Khan. Turkmen soldiers bravely defended themselves from the Khiva Khan soldiers in these lands, protecting their independence. The Sufi who lived in the early part of the 14th century, Gozli Ata had a large following at the hands of Mongol invaders until his untimely death.

Gozli Ata’s setting is among the most beautiful as it sits in the middle of a natural bowl, surrounded by pink, greenish, reddish mountains of incredible form and beauty. And a brick structure with twin white domes, standing in an old cemetery containing several finely carved stone tombs, is his mausoleum. To accommodate the length of the crypt, the twin-domed structure of the mausoleum is necessary: a triangular prism, perhaps three ordinary graves deep. The wife of Gozli Ata, Bibi Aysulu was buried in an adjacent mausoleum and visitors must first pray at her last resting spot, according to tradition. Nearby, a graveyard has sprung up; gravestones include a notch at the top where water can accumulate to feed the soul of the deceased. His mausoleum is now a popular place of pilgrimage, especially by young women who ask for fertility and healthy offspring.

reddish mountain

 

mausoleum