Date: 26th or 27th (Leap Year) September
Location: Addis Ababa
This is one of the colorful religious and public holidays of Ethiopia and UNESCO recognized it as an intangible Cultural heritage of Humanity in 2013.
Meskel means the CROSS and is celebrated here in the Capital, Addis Ababa, on Sep 26/27 or 28 depending on the Leap Year. Every walk of the faithful, dressed in traditional hand-woven cotton clothes, the ecclesiastical groups in their church vestment along with high church figures and political leaders all flock down to the square. This stunning procession involved both secular and religious dances all the way to the square. The burning of the frankincense by the priest in colorful regalia, the biting of the drum, and the liturgical service with the ululation of the crowd filled the air with such an elated mood.
The Bonfire is put up at the center bejeweled with the national flower, Adey Ababa, and topped with a cross. As it gets dark, the Patriarchate, Archbishops with other high priests with the processional cross hold the torch, walk around the bonfire three times and light it while the crowd holds a traditional wax candle lit glowing the sky!
The people will wait until the bonfire is finished burning and the position of the long stick fails because there is a belief that it will forecast what will happen to the country in the year to come. People will then rush to the bone fire to get the ash and put the singe of the Cross on the forehead which is considered a symbol for the culmination of the last sin.
The reason for the high veneration of Meskel in Ethiopia is because tradition has it that the part of the relic has been kept at the very church of Geshen Mariam by Emperor Amdetsion in the 13th C.A.D. Queen Helena in 4th C.A.D, the mother of Constantine the Great, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was said to discover places like the Cavalry. She ordered the people in Jerusalem to put up a bonfire and lit it, the smoke rose high into the sky and bow down to the spot where exactly the cross was buried.
N.B. After attending the Meskel festival eve in Addis, it is possible to see it again on the day itself in the Countryside and this can be tailored along with the historic route tour, visit to Omo, trekking, bird watching tour, and other activities.
Contact Us for more details: ethiopiaodyssey@gmail.com/ info@ethiopiaodysseygmail.com
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