page_title: Olkhon Island
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Olkhon Island / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Мыс Бурхан (Скала Шаманка): о. Ольхон Прибайкальский национальный парк Поселок Хужир (координаты N 53 12 234 E 107 20 328), Ольхонский район, Иркутская область This image is related to the protected area of Russia number 3810274 This template and pages using it are maintained by the Russian WLE team. Please read the guidelines before making any changes that can affect the database!
context_page_description: Olkhon is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of 730 km². Structurally, it constitutes the southwestern margin of the Academician Ridge. The island measures 71.5 km in length and 20.8 km in width.
  There are two versions regarding the origin of the name of the island and both are derived from the language of the Buryats, the indigenous people of Olkhon. The first is that the island's name comes from the word oyhon – “woody”, and the second is that it comes from olhan – “dry”. It is still debated which of the two is the actual origin of the name Olkhon as both words describe the island perfectly. Much of the island is still covered by forests and the amount of precipitation is extremely low – about 240 mm per year.
context_section_description: The indigenous Buryats, adherents of shamanism, believe the island to be a spiritual place; one of the groups of deities revered in Buryati yellow shamanism is called the oikony noyod, the "thirteen lords of Olkhon". On the western coast, close to Khuzhir, is Baikal's most famous landmark, the Shamanka, or Shaman's Rock. Natives believe that Burkhan, a modern religious cult figure of the Altai peoples, lives in the cave in this rock. The rock is one of nine most sacred places in Asia. Olkhon is considered a centre of Kurumchinskay culture of the 6th–10th centuries.
  The museum at Olkhon, named after Revyakin, has exhibits on the nature and ethnography of the island, including pipe-smoking and a samovar collection.
caption: A series of serges at Shamanka on Olkhon Island
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