Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock also known by its Aboriginal name 'Uluru'. It is the world's largest monolith rising 318m above the desert floor with a circumference of 8km. It is considered one of the great wonders of the world. It is located in the Kata Tjuta National Park which is owned and run by the local Aboriginals. The Australian government handed ownership of the land back to the Aboriginals some years ago.

Ayers Rock is arkose, a course-grained sandstone rich in feldspar at least 2.5 km thick. Uplifting and folding between 400-300 million years ago turned the sedimentary layers nearly 90 degrees to their present position. The surface has then been eroded.

Depending on the time of day and the atmospheric conditions the rock can dramatically change colour, anything from blue to glowing red ! Many avid photographers set up for days and record the many changing colours of Uluru.

Ayers Rock was named for the Premier of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. It extends down over 3 and a half miles beneath the surface.

Approximately 500 million years ago it was part of the ocean floor at the centre of Australia. Some believe that there is a light source emanating at various times of the year.

The Aborigines believe that there it is hollow below ground, and that there is an energy source which they call 'Tjukurpa' the 'dream time'. The term Tjukurpa is also used to refer to the record of all activities of a particular ancestral being from the very beginning of his or her travels to their end. Anangu know that the area around Ayers Rock (Mount Uluru) is inhabited by dozens of ancestral beings whose activities are recorded at many separate sites. At each site, the events that took place can be recounted, whether those events were of significance or whether the ancestral being just rested at a certain place before going on.

Usually, there is a physical feature of some form at each ancestral site which represents both the activities of the ancestral being at the time of its formation and the living presence of Tjukurpa within that physical feature today. For the Australian Aboriginal people, that physical feature, whatever its form or appearance, animate or inanimate, is the Tjukurpa. It may be a rock, a sand hill, a grove of trees, a cave. For all of these, the creative essence remains forever within the physical form or appearance.

Around Ayers Rock (Uluru) there are many examples of ancestral sites. The Anangu explanations of these sites and of the formation of Ayers Rock (Mount Uluru) itself derive from the Tjukurpa. Most of these explanations are in the realm of secret information and are not disclosed to Piranypa, the non-Aborigines.