This week was the annual Odwira Festival in Akropong.  It is a festival of purification, reconciliation, and unity before the beginning of the new year in the Akan calendar.  We joined ACI students who are studying the festival and were invited to the opening held at the Palace.  The king is seated under the umbrella.  Those in the first rows are chiefs and their aides.  Behind them are members of the royal family.  The group is watching and waiting for the arrival of the Odwira, the symbol of purification.

 

The festival begins with bringing the Odwira from the spirits of the ancestors to join the community.  The Odwira is brought from the cemetery of the ancestors by a delegation sent by the king.  The chief in charge of the cemetery brings a mixture made of mud and leaves from the graves of the ancestors with which to anoint the king.  He is accompanied by a party of these strange looking "guards" with the peculiar hats, the mud on their faces, and the bells around their necks. They also carry shotguns and fire them frequently!

One of the festival days involves a parade of young girls who take food to the ancestors in containers on their heads.  Through a ritual these girls are thought to become possessed, so others must accompany them to assist them and especially to see that the food does not fall.  Along the parade route the girls stop at various locations where "libations" of water and alcohol are poured at their feet.

 This 300 year-old tree is thought to have a spirit which watches over the town.  Part of the festival each year involves sacrificing a sheep to the tree.  The blood of the sheep is poured at the base of the tree and then the tree is wrapped in white cloth to indicate purity and joy.

The last day of the festival is the Grand Durbar, a gathering of the town in front of the Palace to celebrate.  It begins with a parade in which the various chiefs are carried on platforms on the shoulders of their aides.  No black clothes this time - all are clothed in their finest and most colorful.  They are accompanied by bands and enormous drums.

The king, chiefs, and their entourages sit under their various umbrellas around the town square.  They and the crowd are entertained with music, dancing, and speeches.  Political candidates make prominent appearances.  The most important of the speeches is made by a representative of the king and outlines the goals for the town for the coming year.  The theme promoted this time for the coming year is moral restoration.  The town elders seem to feel that young people are going astray and need to be reminded to remain morally strong.