Tuvan life was closely connected with religion. Shamanism, an early form of religion based on the shaman’s communication with spirits, shamanistic ritual, was common among the indigenous population.

In shamanism it was believed that the world is divided into three spheres: earthly, underground, and heavenly, they were also called Middle, Lower, and Upper Worlds. Spirits inhabited each of these spheres. According to beliefs, health, life, and well-being depended on their will.

With the help of a shaman, people could communicate with spirits. Women priests were called ‘utkun’, and men were called ‘boo’ or ‘tsaarin’. Shamans may have come from different backgrounds, but those to whom the gift was passed by inheritance were regarded as true shamans.

The shaman performed prayers to the spirits in a special ritual cloak. It was most often sewn from the skins of domestic goats and sheep, fur inside. Usually, the cloaks of Tuvan shamans were decorated with images of snakes. They were made from long pieces of multicolored fabric. Rings were sewn on both sides to the shoulders of the shaman’s cloak, and fabric snakes were attached to them — nine pieces each on the left and right, so that the tails would hang freely along the cloak. The hem was embroidered with fringe.

Such shamanic cloaks were described in the works of the traveler and researcher Alexandra Potanina:

Ethnographer Ekaterina Prokofyeva also later wrote about snakes on the cloaks of western Tuvans shamans: “The kaftan had images of snakes on the front and back. The Tojin people had thin iridescent harnesses, the Western Tuvans had snakes made in an extremely naturalistic way.”

The symbolic representation of snakes was not accidental: shamans often decorated their clothes with ceremonial helpers in the form of animals or birds. The costume usually combined animal and bird features. In addition to snake tails, the long braids of cloth on the cloak also symbolized birds, as they resembled bird feathers. Both were considered guides for shamans to the Upper and Lower worlds.

The association with the image of the bird came later when the idea of the Upper, heavenly world developed. It was believed that in his cloak the shaman took on the image of a bird and became close to the sky and the sun himself.