|
Ashanti Yam Festival
The Ashanti Yam Festival is an annual celebration of the Ashanti people of Ashanti. It marks the first harvest of yams during the autumn season, after the monsoon season. The yam is the staple food crop in Ashanti and most of Africa. Observance The festival, a national holiday, is observed for five days starting with a Tuesday, as dictated by the local chief priest. It marks the first harvest of yams during the autumnal season, subsequent to the monsoon season. This festival has both religious and economic significance. Religiously, the festival is used to thank the god and the ancestors for the new harvest and to traditionally outdoor the new yam. Traditions The first offering of the crop is made to the ancestral gods by the chief priest of the Ashanti; the religious rite includes taking the yams on the second day of the festival in a procession to the ancestral ground. Music and dance are part of the festivities on all the five days. The festival is also popular because the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashanti People
The Asante, also known as Ashanti () are part of the Akan ethnic group and are native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. Asantes are the last group to emerge out of the various Akan civilisations. Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante people as a first or second language. The wealthy, gold-rich Asante people developed the large and influential Ashanti Empire, along the Lake Volta and Gulf of Guinea. The empire was founded in 1670, and the capital Kumase was founded in 1680 by Asantehene (emperor) Osei Kofi Tutu I on the advice of Okomfo Anokye, his premier. Sited at the crossroads of the Trans-Saharan trade, the Kumase megacity's strategic location contributed significantly to its growing wealth. Over the duration of the Kumase metropolis' existence, a number of peculiar factors have combined to transform the Kumase metropolis into a financial centre and political capital. The main causal factors included the unquestioning loyalty to the Asante rulers and the Kum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the commercial, industrial, and cultural capital of the historical Ashanti Empire. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea. Kumasi is alternatively known as "The Garden City" because of its many species of flowers and plants in the past. It is also called Oseikrom (Osei Tutu's the first town). Kumasi is the second-largest city in Ghana, after the capital, Accra. The Central Business District of Kumasi includes areas such as Adum, Bantama, Asawasi, Pampaso and Bompata (popularly called Roman Hill), with a concentration of banks, department stalls, and hotels. Economic activities in Kumasi include financial and commercial sectors, pottery, clothing and textiles. There is a significant timber processing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festivals In Ghana
Festivals in Ghana are celebrated for many reasons pertaining to a particular tribe or culture, usually having backgrounds relating to an occurrence in the history of that culture. Examples of such occurrences have been hunger, migration, purification of either gods or stools, etc. Reasons for celebrating festivals The importance of each festival's celebration includes: * Planning developmental project. The festival is used as an occasions to meet and plan developmental projects in the area since most citizens are likely to attend. * Purification of gods. The period is used to clean ancestral stools and perform important rites. * Thanksgiving. The festival is used to thank the supreme God and the lesser gods for the guidance and protection * National and political significance. Prominent people in the government are invited to explain government policies and programmes. * Dispute resolution. The occasion is used to settle family and individual disputes for peaceful co-existence. * T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Festivals In Ghana
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor, Edward. (1871). Primitive Culture. Vol 1. New York: J.P. Putnam's Son Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typical be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Awukudae Festival
Awukudae Festival (meaning: "Wednesday ceremony", or "sacred Wednesday") is a traditional Ashanti festival in Ashanti. Like the Akwasidae Festival, celebrated on a Sunday, Awukudae is part of the celebrations within the Adae Festival cycle. The festivals of Adae are not interchangeable, having been fixed from ancient times. Observance The festival is observed on Wednesday, and its recurrence could be after 40 or 42 days. It is celebrated particularly in the Eastern Region. It is one of the two forms of Adae, the other being Akwasidae, which is celebrated the third Sunday after Awukudae. The observance is an ancestral rite by the chiefs and elders of the Akan clan around Kumasi. The Tuesday which falls 8 days before Awukudae is known as Kwabena; and the Saturday following Awukudae is known as "Memeneda Dapaa". The festival announcement is made by drummers the evening before on "Dapaa" day. After every eight Awukudae Festivals, the "Adae Butu" ritual marks the start of the Odwi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akwasidae Festival
The Akwasidae Festival (alternate, Akwasiadae) is celebrated by the Ashanti people and chiefs in Ashanti, as well as the Ashanti diaspora. The festival is celebrated on a Sunday, once every six weeks. Observance The Akan annual calendar is divided into nine months which lasts approximately six weeks but varying between 40 and 42 days in a period; the celebration of this period is called the Adae Festival. The Adae Festival has two celebration days: the Akwasidae Festival is celebrated on the final Sunday of the period, while the Awukudae Festival is celebrated on a Wednesday within the period. The Friday preceding 10 days to the Akwasidae is called the ''Fofie'' (meaning a ritual Friday). As the festival is always held on Sundays (''Twi'' in Kwasidae), its recurrence could be after 40 or 42 days in accordance with the official Calendar of Ashanti. During the last Akwasidae of the year, which coincides with the Adae Kese Festival, special attention is given to make food offering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adae Kese Festival
Adae Kese Festival ("big resting place") is an important albeit rare celebration among the Ashantis in Ghana.There are two main periods for this celebration. 1 is awukudae and akwadidae It glorifies the achievements of the Asante kingdom. It was first celebrated to the achievement of statehood of the people, after the war that the Ashantis had their independence, in the Battle of Feyiase which they fought against the people of Denkyira. It is also the occasion when the purification ceremony of Odwira is performed at the burial shrines of ancestral spirits. Generally, this coincides with the harvest season of ''yam'' and hence the ritual was also called the "Yam custom" by Europeans. It is celebrated every two weeks by the people in accordance with the calendar of the Akans based on the cycle of forty-two days and nine months in their calendar. The festival is mostly held to climax celebrations of specific achievements and milestones of the people of the Ashanti kingdom. The festiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adae Festival
Adae Festival (Twi: "resting place") is a celebration in Ashanti. Considered a day of rest, it is the most important ancestral custom of the Ashanti people. Observance Within a six-week cycle, Adae has two celebration days, once on a Sunday (''Akwasidae'') and again on a Wednesday (''Awukudae''). The Adae cycle is repeated nine times in a year. In observance of the Akan calendar, the ninth Adae Festival, called the Adae Kese Festival ("big Adae"), coincides with celebration of the New Year. It is therefore celebrated to thank the gods and the ancestors for the new harvest. The festivals within Adae are not interchangeable, having been fixed from ancient times. Traditions The preparations for the Adae are quite elaborate. The day the preparations are made is called ''Dapaa'',(Normally on Tuesdays and Sundays) . On this day, houses and the area surrounding them are all cleaned. In front of the chief's house, drums are played by the “divine drummer” (after paying due respects to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litter (vehicle)
The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the elements. Larger litters, for example those of the Chinese emperors, may resemble small rooms upon a platform borne upon the shoulders of a dozen or more people. To most efficiently carry a litter, porters either place the carrying poles directly upon their shoulders or use a yoke to transfer the load from the carrying poles to the shoulders. Definitions A simple litter consists of a sling attached along its length to poles or stretched inside a frame. The poles or frame are carried by porters in front and behind. Such simple litters are common on battlefields and emergency situations, where terrain prohibits wheeled vehicles from carrying away the dead and wounded. Litters can also be created quickly by the lashing of poles to a chair. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Draa River
:''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest river, at . It is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini River. It flows from the High Atlas mountains, initially south-eastward to Tagounite, and from Tagounite mostly westwards to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan. In 1971, the (El) Mansour Eddahabi dam was constructed to service the regional capital of Ouarzazate and to regulate the flow of the Draa. Most of the year the part of the Draa after Tagounite falls dry. The water from the Draa is used to irrigate palm groves and small farms along the river. The inhabitants of the Draa are called in Arabic ''Drawa'', in Shilha ''Idrawiyn'', the most famous Drawi (singular of Drawa) undoubtedly being Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh (1490–1557). Outside of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asanteman
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British authors than any other indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa.Collins and Burns (2007), p. 140. Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu ( – 1717) and his adviser Okomfo Anokye established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol. Osei Tutu oversaw a massive Ashanti territorial expansion, building up the army by introducing new organisation and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine. In 1701, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Stool
The Golden Stool ( Ashanti- tw, Sika dwa; full title, Sika Dwa Kofi "the Golden Stool born on a Friday") is the royal and divine throne of kings of the Ashanti people and the ultimate symbol of power in Asante. According to legend, Okomfo Anokye, High Priest and one of the two chief founders of the Asante Confederacy, caused the stool to descend from the sky and land on the lap of the first Asante king, Osei Tutu. Such seats were traditionally symbolic of a chieftain's leadership, but the Golden Stool is believed to house the spirit of the Asante nation—living, dead and yet to be born. Symbology and ritual Each stool is understood to be the seat of the owner's soul and when not in use it is placed against a wall so that other souls passing by may relax on it. The Golden Stool is the royal throne and must never touch the ground; instead it is placed on a blanket. During inauguration, a new king is raised and lowered over the stool without touching it. The Golden Stool is carr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_p344_PLATE_9_-_COOMASSIE%2C_PART_OF_ADAM_STREET.jpg "Click for more on -> Kumasi")
