Karakol in the context of "Epic poetry"

Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, beliefs, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or poetry. The information is mentally recorded by oral repositories, sometimes termed "walking libraries", who are usually also performers. Oral tradition is a medium of communication for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system, or in parallel to a writing system. It is the most widespread medium of human communication. They often remain in use in the modern era throughout for cultural preservation.

Religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, and Jainism have used oral tradition, in parallel to writing, to transmit their canonical scriptures, rituals, hymns and mythologies. African societies have broadly been labelled oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations, due to their reverence for the oral word and widespread use of oral tradition.

Issyk-Kul is one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Region, Kazakhstan to the north, Chüy Region to the west, Naryn Region to the southwest, and Xinjiang, China to the southeast. It takes its name from Lake Issyk-Kul, the world's second-largest high altitude lake. Its total area is 43,735 km (16,886 sq mi). The resident population of the region was 501,933 as of January 2021. The region has a sizeable Russian (8.0% in 2009) minority.

Pristan'-Przheval'sk is an urban-type settlement in the Issyk-Kul Region of Kyrgyzstan. Administratively, it is part of the city Karakol. The town was named after the Russian geographer, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, who is buried nearby. It lies 12 km north west of Karakol. Its population was 2,829 in 2021.

Kyrgyz and Dungan rebels attacked Przheval'sk during the 1916 Basmachi revolt. This was met by repression and in Przheval'sk 70% of the Kyrgyz died along with 90% of their cattle.

Tüp (Kyrgyz: Түп) or Tyup (Russian: Тюп) is a large village in the Issyk-Kul Region of Kyrgyzstan, and the center of the Tüp District. It was established as village Preobrazhenskoye in 1870. Its population was 12,355 in 2021. Tüp is a road junction town at the northeast corner of Lake Issyk Kul. To the west on A363 is Anan'yevo and to the south Karakol. To the east, A362 leads up the Karkara valley to Kazakhstan.

The Karkara ('black crane') Valley leads east from here about 60 km to Kazakhstan between the Kyungey Ala-Too to the north and the Central Tian Shan to the south. There is an annual horse festival. Halfway up the valley is the village of San-Tash (counting stones). It is said that Tamerlane once ordered each of his soldiers to place a stone in a pile as they passed. When they returned, each soldier was to remove a stone, the number of remaining stones being the number of soldiers that has died. There is a small hollow in the top of the pile, representing the comparatively very small number of people who returned. There are no other stones in the region for miles around.

Jeti-Ögüz (Kyrgyz: Жети-Өгүз, romanized: Jeti-Ögüz, lit. 'seven bulls') is a balneotherapic resort located at the Jeti-Ögüz Rocks near Issyk Kul in the Jeti-Ögüz District of Issyk-Kul Region of Kyrgyzstan, about 28 km west of Karakol, and near Jeti-Ögüz village. Its population was 337 in 2021.