The travel trend of 2006 in Central Asia shows great demand in combination tours, exploring several neighboring Central Asian countries during one holiday. Travel involving border crossing; this has put certain border towns right back into the limelight they once enjoyed.
One of the busiest borders at this time must be the one between Uzbekistan's Ferghana Valley and the Kyrgyz Republic. The ideal points to break the journey is the town of Osh in Kyrgyzstan.An important stop over on The Great Silk Road, Osh has a lot to offer to nowadays travellers, and not only comfortable, nice accommodation. What we are trying to tell you is: don't rush through Osh.
The main landmark in Osh is the unipolar mosque Takhti-Suleiman, noteworthy for its location right on the summit of the Suleiman-Toho Mountain. Scholars have linked the monument with the name of Muhammad Zahir-ud-Din Babur, a descendant of Timur and generally known as the founder of the Moghul empire. Local lore amongst the elder in Osh about "The House of Babur" has it that once upon a time the prophet Suleiman (Solomon) knelt in prayer high above Osh on the mountain tops. So intense was his worship that his forehead and knees left deep imprints on the stone slab, now a sacred site by the name "Kadam-Dzhai" imprints of Suleiman. When Babur heard about the imprint, he ordered a small khujra to be built over them, a place of worship, with a Mihrab, the prayer niche oriented towards Mekka. The locals took great care to maintain and preserve the sacred site, adding white marble for enhancement. And the mountain, in the prophet's honor, was named "Takhti-Suleiman" "Suleiman's throne".
Not to be missed either on your travel through Osh is the mausoleum of Asaf ibn Bukhriya from the XVIII century, located on the Eastern foot of Suleiman Toho. Asaf ibn Bukhriya seems to have been the mythical associate of king Solomon. According to his own will, he was buried at the foot of the Osh mountain, to which a mausoleum bears witness.
With plenty of legends ranking around the Suleiman-Toho it is not astounding that in and around the town of Osh quite a number of cult places were erected and that Osh gained considerable significance as a center for Central Asian muslims. Magnificent samples of the Ferghana architectural school in Osh are furthermore the Juma Ravat Abdullakhan Friday Mosque, Medresse Alymbek Paravanchi Datke, Medresse Mukhamedboy Tyurka Khal Muratbayev, the Medresse Hazret Damulla-Muhammed-Sydyk-Akhund-Aglam. A remarkable building right on the town's main square is the early XX century Russian orthodox church Mikhailo-Arkhangelskaya, which survived the "cultural revolution" and the Sovjet era. In 1991 the church was returned to the orthodox religious community.
Osh lies right in an area inhabitant by early man. Tucked away in the Soho-Toho Mountain, in its granite caves, on rocky cliffs, an al fresco museum awaits you. Hundreds and hundreds of petroglyphs, the cave paintings of the paleoliticum. Much in contrast to the serenity of nature is the bustling bazaar of Osh. On the left bank of the river Ak-Buhura for the last 2 Millenia, locals and travellers have found everything to cover their every day needs right at that very spot.
As for contemporary art, you do not have far to go. A memorial to A. Orozbekov dating from 1999 by the sculpor T. Sydykov is in close vicinity of the house of political education, in Kurmanzhan Datke street, by the Indipendence Square. Sculptures by M. Kamchybekov and S. Zhumagulov also dating from 1999 honoring Niyazaly and Moldoniyaz stand near the Kyrgyz Drama Theater. In the same area white sculptures by an artists group under T. Sadykov stand out, a gift to the city from the participants of the Symposium of Artists of Kyrgyzstan from which the 37 best works by post-graduates of the Academy of Arts of Kyrgyzstan were selected. The composition "Southerner" merits special note as its author Nazgul Eshenkulova is the group's only female member. A year 2000 monument by M. kamchybekov honoring Sultan Ibraimov is right by the "Kelechek" children's center. The sculptures in front of the department store "Osh" were mounted in 1998 by a group of sculptors under the direction of D. Kheidze, M. Kamchybekov, and S. Zhumagulov honoring Independence Day.