Uluru is the largest freestanding rock on the planet.
Awareness of its uniqueness has grown with time. The park was accorded World Heritage listing in 1987 for its natural value. It was also listed in 1994 for its cultural value in recognition of the continuing living relationship between the Aboriginal people and the natural environment.
What is the significance of Uluru to the Aboriginal people? To the Pitjandjara tribe of central Australian, Uluru is a sacred place. In Dreamtime, a great sand hill was transformed into the rock. At the time, the Kunia people (who had the carpet-snake totem) lived there and were also transformed into rocks. Their features can be seen on Uluru today. Two cracks in the rock represent places where a warrior slashed the leg of a member of a raiding party; the longer cut when his knife was sharp and the shorter one after the tip of the knife had broken off. Caves in the rock are the open mouths of dead warriors who died shouting at their enemies. Another cave is the open mouth of a grieving mother who saw her son killed. She avenged her son's death by striking a warrior with her digging stick. His cracked skull and nose can be seen on the rock with 4 holes representing his eyes and nasal passages. Water stains represents his blood.
Uluru is also a sacred site because of a birthing-cave in the rock. It is a place where women went in childbirth in the belief that they would have a painless delivery there.
[Next: see an aerial view of Kata Tjuta]
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