Petition to save the ancient cult place of Vottovaara!

In Finnish

New! Important update. Read this!

The petition is closed and names have been sent to the Republic of Karelia! Thanks for all the people who signed! We got 1006 names in 35 days. Taivaannaula will follow closely the fate of Vottovaara.

The old Pagan cult place in the Republic of Karelia (part of the Russian Federation) is in danger. Vottovaara was only "discovered" in 1978, and it consists of about 1500 sacred seita rocks, peculiar kind of rocks that were used as sacred sacrifical sites by the pre-Christian Finnic peoples. It is widely assumed that Vottovaara mountain was a sacred place for the Pagans living in the area. Vottovaara is sometimes even titled as the "Northern Stonehenge". Unfortunately, the government of the Republic of Karelia is now planning to start mining operations at the mountain, very close to seita rock formations. The use of explosives at the mine puts these sacred formations in real danger.

This is an international petition started by Finnish Pagan group Taivaannaula. The petition is not a political statement of any kind, instead it just reflects our deep concern for the historically, culturally and spiritually significant Vottovaara and its seita rocks. This sacred place is a part of the age-old cultural heritage of the Finnic peoples, and also a place revered by modern Pagans. Damaging the mountain or putting Vottovaara under any potential danger would be immensely thoughtless and tragic example of short-minded thinking that lacks consideration for cultural values and heritage.

That is why we, the undersigned, petition the government of the Republic of Karelia to recognize the special status of Vottovaara, and to think over their decisions in the light of that fact. We call for the Republic of Karelia to fully understand its rich and unique cultural heritage, and urge the government of Karelia to do all the necessary measures so that the inviolability of Vottovaara and other ancient monuments in the Republic will be ensured, and that these important monuments will stay intact for the future generations.

This petition for Vottovaara and the signatures will be send to the government of the Republic of Karelia as soon as considerable amount of names have been collected.

Anssi Alhonen,
Chairman of Taivaannaula

Update: 04/18/2008 Taivaannaula recently received a letter from Mr. Sergey Katanandov, the president of the Republic of Karelia. In his letter Mr. Katanandov detailed the measures that have already been taken to ensure the sanctity of Vottovaara. He also informed us that later this year a Finnish-Russian expedition group will investigate the archeological objects around Vottovaara.

Measures will also be taken to ensure that the mining work will not put Vottovaara in danger. In any case this would be, as Katanandov writes, impossible, since mining will be done at the distance of 9 to 12 kilometers from Vottovaara. Modern mining techniques cause seismic shock waves that expand only about 350 meters from the explosion area.

Our group approached the Republic of Karelia, because we heard rumours about mining work taking place near the site. The goal of this this petition was to express our concern regarding this issue to the government of the Republic of Karelia. After reading Mr. Katanandov's description of the measures that will be done to secure Vottovaara, we are convinced that the Republic of Karelia is taking sufficient steps in this matter.

Pictures of Vottovaara

Magical Karelia

Note! For the sake of privacy: the names on the petition list will not show up on Google or other Internet search engines. Also, to avoid fraudulent names being inserted to this petition, you need to confirm your signing by clicking a link on a e-mail that will be send to you.

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