It's only a small house in a small village in Suusamyr. However, it is a little bit of Kyrgyz identity: Кожомкул (pron.: Kojomkul). Here, a giant man of 2.30 m and 164 Kg lived in the first half of the 20th century. His name was Kojomkul and the village is named after him. The way he lived was highly appreciated by his contemporaries and he was considered to be a model for Kyrgyz manhood.

How does the ideal Kyrgyz man look like? Let us take the Manas Epos which conveys a lot of Kyrgyz identity and read how the heros are described: Tall, strong, big waist, can carry a horse. This seems me, how Kojomkul looked like.

Dumb-bell for a giant

These boulders served Kojomkul as dumb-bells for his training. The sign says this one weighs 620 Kg.

Today this house is a musuem dedicated to Kojomkul's life. Beside his bodily strength he was very active in political life at his time. He served as chairman of the district council and collective farm. However, there were also conflicts when he disagreed to sell out a fellow council to the Sovjet authorities.

In the garden several boulders are shown. It is said that Kojomkul used them for training purposes. Hhm, the smaller one is already 620 Kg. When he was a young man he took part in wrestling matches which were understood as National Sport. Well, usually, he was the winner.

PIC66 Inside, his overcoat and other clothes are displayed. We were allowed to wear them, just to get a feeling of his size. Uhh, heavy!

This fur coat and cap were really good for winter times...

PIC68 He died in 1955 an is burried nearby the village, a little bit down the Kokomeren river. As usual, the grave is left to the decaying forces of the nature, however, people from the village built a roof to slow down the process. In the clay wall of his grave, there is a print of his hand. Take a measure by yourself.


...also, have a look at the photo gallery...

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