The story of Manas fills three generations: Manas himself, his son Semetey, and his grandson Seitek. Together, the three parts of the epic contain more than half a million lines of verse. Imagine memorising even a fraction of that — a manaschi might spend years learning tens of thousands of lines by heart.
A manaschi does not simply recite the poem like reading from a page. They perform it with dramatic voices, movements and gestures, bringing the characters to life. The performance changes slightly each time, with the manaschi adding details suited to the audience. It is storytelling, acting and singing all rolled into one.
The Epic of Manas is full of adventure, friendship, courage, loyalty and wisdom. The hero Manas is brave and strong, but also fair and protective of his people. Through the stories, listeners learn about Kyrgyz values, history and the landscape of the mountains and steppe. The epic is sometimes called the 'encyclopaedia of the Kyrgyz people'.
A large statue of Manas stands in the central square of Bishkek, and his name and image appear across Kyrgyzstan — on banknotes, at the international airport and in the names of streets and schools. Manas is more than a character from a story — he is the great symbol of the Kyrgyz nation.