To the traditional owners of the land, Uluru is incredibly sacred and spiritual, a living and breathing landscape in which their culture has always existed. According to Australian indigenous cultural beliefs, Uluru was created in the very beginning of time..
What are the significant features of Uluru?
Uluru is a huge, rounded, red sandstone monolith 9.4 kilometres in circumference rising from the plain to a height of over 340 metres. Rock art in the caves around its base provides further evidence of the enduring cultural traditions of Anangu..
What is the spiritual significance of Uluru?
More than simply a landmark, Uluru and the neighbouring Kata Tjuta are believed by Indigenous people to be sacred places that are alive with history. According to the Anangu, Uluru was formed due to the actions of ancestral beings many thousands of years ago..
Uluru is a huge, rounded, red sandstone monolith 9.4 kilometres in circumference rising from the plain to a height of over 340 metres. Rock art in the caves around its base provides further evidence of the enduring cultural traditions of Anangu.
Uluru's arid environment is home to a surprising number of plants, birds and animals. Habitats range from sand dunes and spinifex plains, to acacia scrubland and creek lines.
According to the local Aboriginal people, Uluru's numerous caves and fissures were all formed due to ancestral beings actions in the Dreaming. Still today, ceremonies are held in the sacred caves lining the base. The term Dreaming refers to the time when the land and the people were created by the ancestor spirits.
To the traditional owners of the land, Uluru is incredibly sacred and spiritual, a living and breathing landscape in which their culture has always existed. According to Australian indigenous cultural beliefs, Uluru was created in the very beginning of time.
Uluru and Kata Tjuta provide physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period, which are told in the Tjukurpa stories. Anangu believe they are the direct descendants of these beings and are responsible for the protection and appropriate management of these ancestral lands.
How Uluru was formed?
The Anangu people’s Dreaming story on how Uluru formed resolves around 10 ancestral beings
Each region of Uluru has been formed by different ancestral spirit
In the southern side of Uluru, the rock structure was due to the war between the poisonous and carpet snakes
The north-west side was created by Mala, the hare wallaby people
Who owns Uluru?
Uluru aerial view
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, 2008
Uluru, the towering red sandstone monolith, is a place of great cultural significance for Aboriginal peoples nation-wide
The traditional owners of Uluru and the surrounding Country are the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people, also known as the Anangu people
Why is Uluru so important?
In 1994 it was also added to the list for its extraordinary value as a living cultural landscape
The park’s Cultural Centreopened in 1995 to mark the tenth anniversary of Uluru-Kata Tjuta being handed back to its Traditional Owners
In 2000, the Sydney Olympic torch began its journey on Australian soil with a circuit around the base of Uluru
It is a natural wonder, a symbol of Aboriginal land rights and a source of spiritual connection with the continent. For the A n angu people of Central Australia, Ulu r u is a sacred place. Ulu r u has been a widely recognised symbol of Australia since the 1980s, when it became one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area, known as the Aṉangu. The area around the formation is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
To the traditional owners of the land, Uluru is incredibly sacred and spiritual, a living and breathing landscape in which their culture has always existed. According to Australian indigenous cultural beliefs, Uluru was created in the very beginning of time.
Uluru is more than just a rock, it is a living cultural landscape that of which is considered sacred to the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people. These people of the land are the traditional owners and guardians of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
For many, Uluru and its neighbour Kata Tjuta aren’t just rocks, they are living, breathing, cultural landscapes that are incredibly sacred. Known as being the resting place for the past ancient spirits of the region. A large portion of its surrounds is Indigenous Protected Area, which protects the biodiversity, cultural, and social features within.
,Climbing Uluru permanent closure. Photo: Mike Bowers/The Guardian. Courtesy of National Museum Australia
Cultural significance of uluru
Deserts in Australia
The deserts of Australia or the Australian deserts cover about 2,700,000 km2 (1,000,000 sq mi), or 18% of the Australian mainland, but about 35% of the Australian continent receives so little rain, it is practically desert. Collectively known as the Great Australian desert, they are primarily distributed throughout the Western Plateau and interior lowlands of the country, covering areas from South West Queensland, Far West region of New South Wales, Sunraysia in Victoria and Spencer Gulf in South Australia to the Barkly Tableland in Northern Territory and the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore
Protected areas in Australia
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is a protected
Protected area in the Northern Territory, Australia
Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia. The park is home to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It is located 1,943 kilometres (1,207 mi) south of Darwin by road and 440 kilometres (270 mi) south-west of Alice Springs along the Stuart and Lasseter Highways. The park covers 1,326 square kilometres (512 sq mi) and includes the features it is named after: Uluru and, 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its west, Kata Tjuta. The location is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for natural and cultural landscape.
Uluru
Large sandstone isolated mount in Australia
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock and officially gazetted as Uluru / Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, 335 km (208 mi) south-west of Alice Springs.