Por Bajin: The mystery hidden in Siberia

The structure discovered in Siberia. Picture: Por Bajin Cultural Foundation Source: Supplied



ON A small island in the middle of a remote lake in Siberia lies a puzzling sight.

Welcome to the Por Bajin (also spelt Por-Bazhyn) ruins, located between the Sayan and Altai ranges, close to the Mongolian border. It’s an area almost completely unaffected by civilisation.
And nobody knows exactly what the Por Bajin is.
While it looks like a fortress at first glance, with its towering walls and foreboding shape, not all is as it seems. Experts believe the 1300-year-old structure actually contains a summer palace and a monastery. But nobody has been able to prove it.



A recreation of what the site holds. Picture: Por Bajin Cultural Foundation Source: Supplied





While the site was first explored in 1891, it wasn’t until 2007 that proper research took place, the Siberian Times reports. They discovered a distinctive Chinese influence — from the use of certain roof tiles to the building methods, further adding to the intrigue.



A tile found at the site. Picture: Por Bajin Cultural Foundation Source: Supplied





The Por-Bajin Cultural Foundation, the official site for the complex, outlines some of the main questions that have yet to be answered: “Apparently, it was built at the period of the Uighur Khaganate (744-840). But it is not clear what did they build a fortress for in such a solitary place — far from big settlements and trade routes.
“It is also unclear whether Por-Bajin was a defensive structure, a Buddhist or Manichaean temple or a summer residence of Khagan. There is even a version that there was an ancient observatory in it. The architecture of the fortress also produces many questions.



Experts are longing for answers. Picture: Por Bajin Cultural Foundation Source: Supplied





“It has been unknown for long whether the structure was built on the island or the lake was formed later, around the already built fortress.”
The purpose of the structure isn’t the only thing that’s mysterious — it’s believed that it was abandoned after a short time. With no evidence that it came under attack, why did they leave?


http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/por-bajin-the-mystery-hidden-in-siberia/story-e6frfqai-1227293552690

How fascinating. I hope they publish more on this interesting phenomenon.

Original Quill wrote:How fascinating.  I hope they publish more on this interesting phenomenon.

To be honest Quill I was not even aware of this place and like you am quite fascinated

I had never heard of it. It looks like a merger of cultures. I hope someone can come out with at least a theory...in my time. Lol.

Original Quill wrote:I had never heard of it.  It looks like a merger of cultures.  I hope someone can come out with at least a theory...in my time.  Lol.

Lets hope so.
Maybe we are looking at a kind of Helms Deep for this culture?
A last refuge, which  by the looks of things would have been a difficult place to take, so I guess that is a possibility where the elite of this society in times of great peril could have retreated too?