The Golden Woman (“Zolotaya baba”) is a Russian name of the female idol worshipped by Finno-Ugric peoples.

The first record of the idol is found in the Sophian Chronicle dated back to 1398, where the people called Permyaks are reported to revere the Golden Woman. Its appearance was first described by Sigismund von Herberstein in his “Notes on Muscovite Affairs” dated back to the middle XVI century. On the maps it is depicted as a statue with a rod in the right hand or sitting on the throne, a burning torch in one hand and a child in another.

Cult of the Golden Woman and the origin of this image itself are very likely to be connected with the Indo-Iranian world.

The modern Khanty and Mansi state that the Golden Woman is transported and put into the most hidden places which are kept a secret from Russians. According to the witnesses, the idol is not made of gold, but of pyrite, an iron mineral, and is rather big in size.

http://www.bezgraniz.com/blog/2010/03/02/

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