Odwira definition of Odwira in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Odwira

September

Odwira is a celebration of national identity by the Akan or Asante people of Ghana, once known as the Gold Coast. The festival originated centuries ago as a time for people to assemble after the yam harvest, and was inaccurately called the Yam Festival by non-Africans.
The kingdom of Ashanti, which is now the region of Ashanti, became rich and powerful in the late 1600s under its first ruler, Asantahene ("King") Osei Tutu. He is believed to have initiated the festival with the additional purpose of reinforcing the loyalty of the subjugated chiefs. The nation he built up withstood the British until 1901. He built a palace at Kumasi, and to further strengthen the nation, he and a priest, Okomfo Anokye, introduced the legendary Golden Stool. Supposed to have been brought down from heaven, it was thought to enshrine the nation's soul and became a symbol of the bond between all Ashanti people. Tutu also set down laws for life and religion. Much of this culture still survives.
During Odwira, the national identity is reinforced with purification ceremonies: a priest in each town prepares a purification bundle of certain tree branches and shoots, and in the evening carries it out of town and buries it. The Golden Stool is carried in a procession and placed on a throne without touching the ground. Huge umbrellas to protect participants from the sun add to the color of the procession. Drums and horns provide music.

CONTACTS:
Ministry of Tourism & Diasporan Relations, Ghana Tourist Board
P.O. Box 4386
Accra, Ghana
233-21-222153; fax: 233-21-244611
www.touringghana.com

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Sep 19
EncyRel-1987, vol. 1, p. 167
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 526
HolSymbols-2009, p. 654

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No references found	And our most exciting days--at the Ohum or Odwira Festivals, for instance-reached a climax when the chief sat in his palanquin and was carried in the streets of our town. Think about something positive; Speak, Nana, speak. for, if we ... by Duodu, Cameron / New African 2) Analysis of this first-fruit rite as a Gesamtkunstwerk, along the lines of Herbert Cole's examination of the Akan Odwira festival (Cole 1975), then, is not a matter of identifying modernity's impact on Yakurr practices. Umor revisited: a diachronic study of sacrosanct principles embedded ... by Salami, Gitti / African Arts Pondering the old lady's queer numerology later, I stumbled upon the truth: she had, of course, been using the traditional annual festivals of her ethnic group--such as Odwira or Adae--to count the years. Methuselah's granddaughter by Duodu, Cameron / New African	odontology odontoma odontophobia Odontostomatida odor test Odorant odoriferous homing Odoriferous Substances Odorization odorize odorless mineral spirit odorless paint Odovacar ODP Odra Odría, Manuel ODS ODSA ODSI ODT Odum, Eugene Pleasants Odum, Howard W Odum, Howard Washington Odunde Festival ODVA Odwira Odysseus Odysseus' companions Odysseus' crew Odyssey Oe Kenzaburo Oe, Kenzaburo OECD Oecolampadius, Johannes Oecophoridae oecus oedema Oedemeridae Oedipal Oedipal phase Oedipus Oedipus complex Oedogoniales Oegophiurida Oegopsida Oehlenschlager, Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger, Adam Gottlob Oehman's survey instrument oeil-de-boeuf OEL OEM	Odus ODUSD ODUSD(S&T) Odusseia Odusseia ODV ÖDV Odva Odva ODVB ODVCI ODVD Odvetvova klasifikace ekonomickych cinnosti ODVH ODVL ODVN ODVP ODVS ODVSOM ODVT ODVV ODW ODWA ODWC ODWD ODWE Odwira ODWM ODWO ODWP ODWQS ODWR ODWS ODWSA ODWT ODX ODXA ODXC ODY Odyl Odyle Odylic Odylic force odylism odynacusis odyno- odynometer odynophagia odynophagia Odynophobia Odynophobia odynophonia ODYS

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And our most exciting days--at the Ohum or Odwira Festivals, for instance-reached a climax when the chief sat in his palanquin and was carried in the streets of our town.

Think about something positive; Speak, Nana, speak. for, if we ... by Duodu, Cameron / New African

2) Analysis of this first-fruit rite as a Gesamtkunstwerk, along the lines of Herbert Cole's examination of the Akan Odwira festival (Cole 1975), then, is not a matter of identifying modernity's impact on Yakurr practices.

Umor revisited: a diachronic study of sacrosanct principles embedded ... by Salami, Gitti / African Arts

Pondering the old lady's queer numerology later, I stumbled upon the truth: she had, of course, been using the traditional annual festivals of her ethnic group--such as Odwira or Adae--to count the years.

Methuselah's granddaughter by Duodu, Cameron / New African