What Is So Special About Uluru, Australia’s Famous Desert Rock?
Uluru is the most iconic natural landform in Australia — and its formation is an equally special story of creation, destruction, and reinvention. The origins of Uluru (and Kata Tjuta) date back about 500 million years, to around the same time the Australian continent was formed.
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. This special place carries great spiritual and cultural significance for these local indigenous tribes with over 40 sacred aboriginal sites and eleven Tjurkurpa or Dreaming trails present in the area.
The Anangu people belong to the oldest culture known to man dating back 60,000 years. They believe that their culture has always existed in Central Australia and that this landscape was created at the beginning of time by the travels of great ancestral beings. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are said to provide physical evidence of these ancient events and have been used for traditional ceremonies and rites of passage for over 10,000 years.
