MYANE BABA
Almost a thousand years ago over the burial place of the popular in Central Asia the Sufi Sheikh Abu said Abul Khayra Mehney (967-1049) is one of the most famous representatives of Islamic mysticism, was erected the magnificent mausoleum. He made a single complex with located opposite the building of the mosque and was located on the outskirts of the small town of Mehne (now desert area Kaka etrap of Akhal province, 200 kilometers east of Ashgabat, near the famous archeological monument of the bronze age Altyn Depe).
The mausoleum stands on the spot where according to legend, there was a khanaka – the house and the Sufi monastery at the mosque, founded by the legendary Sheikh Meana Baba. Hence the glory of Abu said, who at the turn of X-XI centuries his sermons gained incredible popularity in all strata of society with the same reverence he was treated by the peasants, artisans, scientists, poets, generals and rulers.
XI century, marked by the formation of a powerful Turkmen state led by the Great Seljuk dynasty, was also the heyday of the architecture. The mausoleum of Meana Baba is considered a milestone on the path of creative development portal-dome group of Central Asian tombs. Elongated portal (peshtak) with deep arched ayvan – the main feature of this monument. Time has changed the whole look of the mausoleum with the exception of the interior. If in the XI century inside and outside dominated by the brick texture of the masonry and brick decor, three hundred years later, in the XIV century the portal was lined with mosaic in blue tones.
In the interior dome of the hall was done painting color: on the walls – flowers and floral motifs, while the side of the dome is a complicated geometrical ornament with figured medallions. The lower part of the walls of the interior were decorated with a panel of majolica tiles in the form of eight-pointed star with floral ornament and epigraphy.
In the great hall of the mausoleum area of 100 square meters with deep arched niches, the tomb of Saint Sheikh. In recent years there had been hundreds of muslims from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other countries in the world.
For centuries he was in a state of disrepair due to weathering of the binder solution and the weakening of the brickwork. Earlier, in 2005, the State historical and cultural reserve “Abiverd”, is in charge of this monument, organized large-scale works on strengthening of bearing structures of the mausoleum.
