Sculpture of Manaschi Jusup Mamai erected in Bishkek

AKIPRESS.COM - A sculpture of Manaschi Jusup Mamai was solemnly opened in Bishkek on June 11.
Culture Minister Azamat Jamankulov was among some 100 people at the opening ceremony. Minister said no money was taken from the budget as all the expenditures were covered by some lawmakers and residents of Kyzyl-Suu village where poet Mamai was from.
Architects Turgunbai Sadikov said it took 1 year to build the sculpture.
Manaschi Jusup Mamai died on June 1, 2014 at the age of 96. Manaschi is a person who recites the epic of Manas which is the centerpiece of Kyrgyz literature. The Manas contain up to nearly five hundred thousand lines which makes it twenty times longer than Homer's Odyssey and Iliad combined.
Jusup Mamai's version of Manas epic contains hundreds of thousands of lines of poetry. The uniqueness of Jusup Mamai's work is that he retained for future generations stories about the life and deeds not only heroes of the trilogy "Manas", "Semetei", "Seitek", but the next five generations of descendants of the great Manas - Kenenim, Seyit, Asylbachi - Bekbachi, Sombilek, Chigitey.