Despite the public closure of the monument during the Soviet era, the mausoleum has continued to draw pilgrims once the order was lifted. Up to contemporary times, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi has remained an object of pilgrimage for Kazakh Muslims. Hence, the town of Turkestan became the second Mecca for the Muslims of Central Asia Indeed, the mausoleum's importance to the town is attested by Turkestan's former name, Hazrat-e Turkestan, which literally means "Saint of Turkestan," a direct reference to Yasawi.