The Sacred Space of the Sloboda Udmurts: The Imma/Immala Sanctuary

Introduction. The surge of scholarly interest in Udmurt traditional religion that intensified during the late 1990s and 2000s marked a new phase in the study of pre-Christian ritual sites. This development stimulated the organisation of additional ethnographic, religious studies, and archaeological expeditions aimed at investigating ritual practices. The present article focuses on Immala, the most renowned ancient sanctuary of the Udmurt people, located in the Slobodskoy District of the Kirov Region. Despite the site’s profound sacred significance for the local Udmurt group and its occasional mentions in academic literature, a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of ritual practices at the Immala sanctuary during the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries has yet to be undertaken. The aim of this study is to analyse materials obtained during expeditions to the Immala site, to trace the transformations in ritual practices over time, and to introduce new data into scholarly circulation. Materials and Methods. The research is based on materials from the Scientific Archive of the Udmurt Institute of History, Language, and Literature, Udmurt Federal Research Centre, spanning from 1971 to the present. The core body of sources comprises the author’s original field data, collected during a 2024 ethnographic expedition to the Slobodskoy District of Kirov Oblast. The methodological framework rests on the principles of historicism and systematic analysis. The historical-genetic method was employed to trace diachronic transformations in the religious beliefs of the Slobodskoy Udmurts. This approach facilitated the examination of the factors driving the evolution of their cultic practices – from collective clan prayers to individual offerings and the subsequent decline of these rites – while also establishing the correlation between these changes and socio-economic processes, particularly rural depopulation. Results and Discussion. The Immala sanctuary constitutes a shared sacred site for all Sloboda Udmurts. The ritual of “journeying to the celestial land” (Im mala vetlon/vetton) symbolises a pilgrimage to this holy place, performed to offer sacrifice and to direct supplications to Imma-vozhshud for the bestowal of health and well-being. Data from the 2024 expedition indicate that the ceremonial rites conducted at the Immala sanctuary, which persisted until the early 21st century, are now fading from contemporary practice. This decline is attributable to the depopulation of villages due to migration, alongside the ageing and demographic attrition of the rural population, who are the primary bearers of this authentic cultural tradition. Conclusion. The conclusions formulated by the author contribute to the development of ethnological research on traditional Udmurt religious practices. The materials may prove useful for describing the mythological worldview of the ethnic group, as well as for systematizing the sacred landscapes and cultural heritage sites of the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia.