Traditions, customs, way of life and religious base of every ethnos is formed by many components. The history of Khakasia counts more than 1500 years. The khakasian people used to live under constant influence of other nations' culture, traditions and religion. In the late Mongolian period one of the four world religions - Buddhism (Lamaism) became especially strong in Khakasia. The evidence of that can be seen not only among the archaeological monuments but also in written resources and folklore. In the beginning of the 17^th century the Khakasians again get familiar with the Orthodox Church when Russian people come to their land. This religious doctrine becomes widely spread in Khakasia in the 18^th century and gets the status of an official religion in the 19th century. However, shamans still had great influence till the second part of the 20^th century, as they represented traditional religious beliefs.

Khakasia is the land of nature mysteries. But its traditional beliefs cause great interest of those who like unusual, mysterious rites and need spiritual purification and calmness.

Shamanism is one of the most wide spread beliefs on the territory of Khakasia which attracts hundreds of tourists every year. Shamanism is a system of religious ideas connected with national traditions. Siberia is considered to be the classical motherland of shamanism. The word "shamanism" is derived from the word "samyn" which means "to destroy evil power". Sky, sun, fire, maternity, ancestors and patrons are always on the first place. These cults are ancient but the base of them is a pure and sacred attitude towards nature. Shamanism is based on the natural rhythms and space cycles. 5000 years ago a man has already possessed profound knowledge of the world. He clearly understood how the world worked; he knew the models of substance, time and the planet. The sky was always on the first place, then the sun and then the moon. Different ceremonies were an essential part of a man's living in the nature, his unity with the nature. A close connection of people with nature was a guarantee of a man's existence in the world. That's why those who watch shaman's rituals and listen to his songs absorbs energy of space, gets harmony and knowledge about life sense.

But nevertheless traditional beliefs are not the only religion in Khakasia. These beliefs are available only for those who sincerely believe their ancestors.

There are also many other religions spread all over the territory of Khakasia, such as Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and many others.

Nowadays there is a big number of old believers living in Khakasia. Old believers carefully preserve their traditions, belief and way of life. They live in a region situated in upper part of Yenisei. There are old believers' villages named Upper and Low Chedralyk, Unzhei, Uzhep. Old believers preserved strong trust in god, patriarchal way of life, agriculture traditions, ancient customs and ideology.

Daily life of old believers is closely connected to their way of life. They devote the major part of their life to farming in order to grow vegetables for eating, but at the same time they are faithful to their religion and consider that labor is the main occupation of a human. Almost all families have a garden. People keep cattle and poultry.

Their daily life is subjected to certain regulations. We still can see that old believers strictly keep to their rules. Especially the grown ups. They still spend much time praying. Old believers call themselves "Christians".