What is an Egungun festival?
What is an Egungun festival?
Egungun festival is part of the Yoruba religious system, sometimes referred to as Orisa. It is celebrated as festivals and rituals through the masquerade. An elder from the Egungun family called Alagbaa sometimes presides over the ancestral rites.
What are the festival in Ibadan?
Renamed in 2013 to World Sango Festival by the government of Oyo State, the festival is usually held in August at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo and also observed in over forty countries around the world….
| Sango Festival | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1000 BC–present |
| Founder | Sango |
| Most recent | August 2014 |
| Participants | 20,000 |
What is the purpose of Egungun festival?
In the Oyo area of Yorubaland, Odun Egungun festivals are held in communities to commemorate the ancestors. Egungun masks are performed during these annual or biennial ceremonies as well as during specific funeral rites throughout the year.
What is the meaning of Egungun?
powers concealed
Egungun, meaning “powers concealed” or “dry bones (of ancestors),” is a Yoruba (South Western Nigeria) masquerade that provides an important connection between the worlds of the living and the dead.
How long is egungun celebrated?
Egungun Masquerade Dance Costume: Ekuu Egungun The appearance of Egungun in a community is invariably accompanied by pomp and pageantry, drumming and dancing, singing and celebration. The ensuing festival goes on for several days and strengthens the bonds that unite families and communities with departed ancestors.
Where does egungun take place?
The streets of the town of Iwo in south-west Nigeria are flooded with crowds in late August, towards the end of the rainy season. The festival revolves around the Egungun – a hidden fellowship of people who adopt elaborate masquerades and are supposed to morph into ancestral spirits during the event.
What are the types of festival?
Types of festivals
- Religious festivals.
- Arts festivals.
- Food and drink festivals.
- Seasonal and harvest festivals.
Where is the Egungun festival celebrated?
Nigeria’s annual Egungun festival is a centuries old Yoruba tradition, and one of the most colourful cultural celebrations in West and Central Africa. Image caption, The streets of the town of Iwo in south-west Nigeria are flooded with crowds in late August, towards the end of the rainy season.
Is egungun a religion?
Egungun is a part of the Yoruba pantheon of divinities. The Yoruba religious system is sometimes referred to as the ‘Yoruba Religion’ or simply ‘Orisa Veneration’. In the tradition of ancestor veneration, Egungun represents the “collective”.
Where was the Yoruba Egungun performance?
Drewal 1992: 12). While the Egungun is performed throughout Yorubaland (which spans parts of the modern states of Nigeria, Benin and Togo), it continues to maintain a certain amount of regional autonomy and divergence.
Is Egungun a religion?
How long is Egungun celebrated?
What kind of religion is the Egungun festival?
The Egungun Festival is part of the religious practices of the Yoruba people of Ede, Nigeria. The Yoruba religion is based on oral traditions. Beliefs and practices are preserved by passing history, customs, and traditions from one generation to the next.
When is the Egungun festival in Oyo State?
Egungun Festival. The Egungun is a secret society among the Yoruba people of Ede, Oyo State, Nigeria. The major Egungun festival takes place in June, when members of the society come to the market place and perform masked dances. The masks they wear represent ancestral spirits and may cover the whole body or just the face.
Who is the chief of the Egungun society?
The Egungun is a secret society among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. A hereditary chief called the Alagba heads the society, which celebrates its most important festival in June. Members of the society come to the marketplace and perform dances for the Timi, or chief, wearing MASKS that represent the spirits of deceased ancestors.
What does the word Egungun mean in Yoruba?
The word “Egungun” is sometimes translated literally as “bone” or “skeleton.” This is probably the result of a misunderstanding of the correct tone, since Yoruba is a tonal language. When the word is pronounced with the correct tone, it means “masqueraders.”
