Religious practice of the young Mansi

[Charles]

According to testimonies, young Mansi did not have any religious practice:

Mansi don't have a Prayer Mountain nowadays, I don't pray and I do not know of a Prayer Mountain. I don't believe it exists. Since the Mansi do not go to pray now, the elders pray at home, and the young ones do not pray at all.  (Bahtiyarov Pyotr Yakimovich)

It is known that now Mansi do not go to pray in the prayer mountain, young people do not pray at all, and old Mansi pray at home. (Sheshkin Konstantin Efimovich)

I myself have never attended a prayer ceremony on the mountain, and Mansi are not a strong believers nowadays, young Mansi don't recognize religion. Me neither. ( Bahtiyarov Procopiy Savelyevich)

But on this photo, we can see young men at a ritual, they are Bahtiyarov boys:



They seem to take the ritual very seriously. And the ritual seems to be very seriously performed, with all the ceremonialism... the two masked figure between the Bahtiyarov boys being thrilling. The brother on the left side is playing sankvyltap: they were also singing the required ritual songs...