View of Kurangun with superimposed line drawing

High atop the valley at Kurangun, worshipers would have descended down the stairs onto the platform to commune with their gods in an intimate, theatrical setting. The aesthetics of the natural landscape would have served to heighten the religious experience, which probably took place during a periodic pilgrimage. The ideological link between the relief and the riverine setting is obvious: a god dispenses water to worshipers in the main vertical panel and at least 26 carved fish swimming in opposite directions on the 2 m x 5 m horizontal platform. The platform has a low, stepped border on three sides. Had the missing outer edge continued this border, it may have created a shallow, basin-like enclosure for holding pure “holy” water.