Umkhosi Wokweshwama
   HOME
*



picture info

Umkhosi Wokweshwama
Umkhosi Wokweshwama ("first fruits festival"), recently also known as ''Umkhosi Woselwa'' ("calabash festival"), is the annual harvest festival of the Zulu people, observed around the December solstice. It takes place at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, and is presided over by the Zulu King, who conducts a tasting ceremony as sacred king, closed by the dashing of a calabash to signify that the people may now enjoy the fruits of the harvest; this role was historically expanded by Shaka to have more military significance with a muster and parade. It was revived by the current king's father, the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu in 1990, after a ban by British colonial authorities following the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana and Zulu defeat in the Anglo-Zulu War (the last was held in winter 1877–78, though some claim continuity as a less elaborate event). The festival has mass participation by young men, as Umkhosi woMhlanga has by young women. There i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




King Goodwill Zwelithini
King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the reigning King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021. He became King on the death on of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968 aged 20 years. Prince Israel Mcwayizeni acted as the regent from 1968 to 1971 while the King took refuge in the then Transkai province of South Africa for three years to avoid assassination. After his 21st birthday and his first marriage, Zwelithini was installed as the eighth monarch of the Zulus at a traditional ceremony at Nongoma on 3 December 1971, attended by 20,000 people. Zwelithini died on 12 March 2021, aged 72, after reportedly being admitted to hospital for diabetes-related illness. During preparations for his funeral, the king's traditional prime minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, announced that he had died of COVID-19. Political role In the power vacuum created in the 1990s as Apartheid and the domination of the country by White South Africans ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Umkhosi WoMhlanga
Umhlanga , or Reed Dance ceremony, is an annual Swazi event. In Eswatini, tens of thousands of unmarried and childless Swazi girls and women travel from the various chiefdoms to the Ludzidzini Royal Village to participate in the eight-day event. The young, unmarried girls were placed in female age-regiments; girls who had fallen pregnant outside wedlock had their families fined a cow. History Umhlanga was created in the 1940s Eswatini under the rule of Sobhuza II, and is an adaptation of the much older Umchwasho ceremony. The reed dance continues to be practised today in Eswatini. In South Africa, the reed dance was introduced in 1991 by Goodwill Zwelithini, the former King of the Zulus. The dance in South Africa takes place in Nongoma, a royal ''kraal'' of the Zulu king. South Africa In South Africa, the ceremony is known as Umkhosi woMhlanga, and takes place every year in September at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma Enyokeni, KwaZulu-Natal. The girls come from all p ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cultural Festivals In South Africa
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, 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 monoculturalism, 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 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Zulu Culture
Zulu may refer to: Zulu people * Zulu Kingdom or Zulu Empire, a former monarchy in what is now South Africa * Zulu language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa * Zulu people, an ethnic group of southern Africa Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Zulu'' (1964 film), a war film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine * ''Zulu'' (2013 film), a French crime film starring Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom Music * "Zulu" (song), a 1981 dance single by British funk duo The Quick * "Zulu", a song by Blink-182 from the 1996 EP ''They Came to Conquer... Uranus'' * Zulu Records, a record store in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media *Zulu (Pillow Pal), a Pillow Pal zebra made by Ty, Inc. * TV 2 Zulu, a Danish television station * Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, a Carnival krewe in New Orleans People * Zulu (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Gilbert Lani Kauhi (1937–2004), stage name Zulu, who p ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. History and etymology American Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots as a specifically African-American holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." For Karenga, a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around the world. A Calendar of saints, feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts Twelve Days of Christmas, twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in List of holidays by country, many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as Christian culture, culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season, holiday season organized around it. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bet ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nazareth Baptist Church
The Nazareth Baptist Church (Alternatively called "The Nazarite Church" "iBandla lamaNazaretha") is the second largest, African initiated church based in South Africa, founded in 1910. It reveres Shembe as a prophet sent by God to restore the teachings of Moses, the prophets, and Jesus. Members are Sabbath-observers and avoid pork, smoking, and premarital sex. It was divided into two groups after the 1976 death of Johannes Galilee Shembe. The larger group was led by Bishop Amos Shembe until his death in 1995, while Rev. Londa Shembe led the smaller group. As of 2009, it was divided into three factions in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Gauteng. The religion uses leopard skins as part of their ceremonies, which some activists are trying to stop or replace with synthetic leopard skin. On 18 October 2016, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban declared Vela Shembe the legitimate leader of the Nazareth Baptist Church after a protracted court battle, which had dragged on since 2011. Desp ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


First Fruits (Southern Africa)
The First Fruits festivals of the Nguni peoples in Southern AfricaSnedegar, Keith, irst Fruit Celebrations among the Nguni Peoples of Southern Africa: An Ethnoastromical Interpretation ''Science History Publications'', 1998. Retrieved 2011/03/18. are a type of sacrificial ceremony of giving the first fruits in a harvest to God believed to be responsible for the abundance of food. It was performed by the high priests of the kingdom, and the king was always in attendance. Traditionally, it marked a time of prosperity in the good harvests experienced after the seasonal agricultural period. It also brought the nation together, unifying it at a time of merrymaking and quashing fears of famine. The tradition is still practiced mainly in the kingdoms of KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland. The ceremonies are headed by the kings of the tribes: Mswati III in Swaziland, celebrated as Incwala, and King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulu nation, celebrated as Umkhosi Wokweshwama Umkhosi Wokweshwama ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nguni People
The Nguni people are a Bantu ethnic group from South Africa, with off-shoots in neighbouring countries in Southern Africa. Swazi (or Swati) people live in both South Africa and Eswatini, while Northern Ndebele people live in both South Africa (as immigrants) and Zimbabwe. A group of the Nguni living in present day Malawi and Zambia originated from South Africa and are known as AbaNgoni (or Ngoni/Nguni). The name AbaNgoni can be translated to "People who doesn't commit sins". Both the Ndebele of Zimbabwe and the Ngoni migrated northwards out of South Africa in the early 19th century, during a politically tumultuous era that included the so-called Mfecane and Great Trek. In South Africa, the historic Nguni kingdoms of the Ndebele, Swazi, Xhosa and Zulu are in the present-day provinces of Southern and Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The most notable of these kingdoms are the Zulu Kingdom, which was ruled by Shaka, a warrior king whose conquest took ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Incwala
Incwala () is the main ritual of kingship in the Eswatini, Kingdom of Eswatini. This is a national event that takes place during the summer solstice. The main participant in incwala is the King of Eswatini; when there is no king there is no incwala. Incwala takes place over a period of time of about a month, starting with the small incwala, ''incwala lencane'', and culminating in the big incwala, ''incwala lenkhulu''. A number of activities—such as lusekwane, kuhlamahlama, and umdvutjulwa—mark the key events of this age old tradition. Main personnel The incwala ritual is controlled by national priests known as ''Bemanti'' (people of the water), or ''Belwandle'' (people of the sea), because they fetch river- and sea-water to strengthen the King. The leader of these men is a chief of the Ndwandwe clan who is assisted by other male relatives. Another leader is of the Ndwandwe clan from the Elwandle royal village. These men go and fetch water and herbs respectively in the natio ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

James George Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 January 1854 in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Katherine Brown and Daniel F. Frazer, a chemist. Frazer attended school at Springfield Academy and Larchfield Academy in Helensburgh. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with honours in classics (his dissertation was published years later as ''The Growth of Plato's Ideal Theory'') and remained a Classics Fellow all his life. From Trinity, he went on to study law at the Middle Temple, but never practised. Four times elected to Trinity's Title Alpha Fellowship, he was associated with the college for most of his life, except for the year 1907–1908, spent at the University of Liverpool. He was knighted in 1914, and a public lectureship in social ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


INkatha (Zulu Artifact)
The iNkatha (plural: iziNkatha ) was the magic and sacred 'grass coil', a symbol of unity of the Zulu nation. The sacred item was normally kept under guard, and Zulu kings sometimes seated themselves on it when going to war. The preparation of an iNkatha can be traced back to the time of king Senzangakhona, the father of Shaka. The last ''inkatha yezwe'' (grass coil of the nation) was destroyed in 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War. Preparation Specialized iziNyanga (or medicine men) initiated a ritual vomiting exercise when the Zulu army prepared for battle, by administering an emetic to the soldiers. Each soldier of the impi would vomit into the straw-filled pit, and the medicine men would bound the contents into a thick, coiled mat. The woven coil also included rags of the garments of foreign royals, material drawn from the regimental huts and other substances of metaphysical significance. Mundane use Besides the ''inkatha yezwe'', an inkatha may also be a grass coil that is place ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]