Ruhnama monument in Independence Park, Ashgabat: a giant model of the book with the portrait of Saparmurat Niyazov
Photograph of a monument shaped like a closed book, several metres high, set on a round fountain basin. The green cover carries a gold profile portrait, the name SAPARMYRAT TÜRKMENBAŞY above it, the title RUHNAMA and a gold bird emblem below, in a pink and silver ornamental border; a gold relief frieze runs along the base. It reproduces the cover of Niyazov's book, which was compulsory study in the country's schools.
- Date
- 2003
- Period
- Contemporary
- Made by
- Government of Turkmenistan (Niyazov administration)
- Country
- Turkmenistan
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- State
- Leader
- Saparmurat Niyazov
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- Religion, Media and information
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Leader
- Saparmurat Niyazov
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Ekki3), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 4.0 (stated on the Commons file page; photographer own work)
Ekki3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
SAPARMYRAT TÜRKMENBAŞY RUHNAMA
Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy [name and title, "head of the Turkmen"] Ruhnama [the book's title, usually rendered "Book of the Soul" or "Spiritual Book"]
Read from a 1280 px copy; all three lines are clear. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.
