If you put a considerable effort to see Uluru rock, Kata Tjuta is only 40 km from the sacred rock, and is definitely worth seeing as well.
Kata Tjuta
Actually both Uluru and Kata Tjuta are considered to be sacred by local people.
The rituals and exact meaning are kept secret, one of the leaked legend tells about the king snake Wanabi, who lives in the mountains and appears to the subjects only during the dry season.
These are the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people referred as Anangu, who in 1985 received back from goverment the surrounding area today known as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Kata Tjuta (Kata Joota) is a group of rocks with valleys in between to waks to see, and to celebrate mysterious ceremonies, especially during the night.
It is not necessary to join these events to feel the enormous power surrounding theplace. Kata Tjuta means ‘many heads’ and so there are 36 dome-like rocks of sandstone-based mixture of various minerals, among them is iron oxide, that with the time changes the color to red.
The rocks were formed at least 540 M years ago and it is a sedimentation rock in its origins, but with some inclusions of bazalt and granite.
The Western civilisation first heard about its existence in 1872, after expedition of English explorer Ernest Giles, who declared it Mount Olga in honour of Queen Olga of Württemberg. It was an official name ( Mount Olga, or the Olgas) until 1980′s, and today is reffered with dual name, jet Anangu original name receives more popularity with every year.
Kata Tjuta is located about 55 km from Ayers Rock Airport, there are numerous bus tours from Alice Springs. the drive from Alice Springs takes about 4,5 h.
[photo courtesy of Razmataz']