This page groups sacred sites by whether their sacred status is still actively maintained. Wikipedia notes that Mircea Eliade "argues that while the concept of a sacred space is often associated with religious traditions, it is not exclusive to them," since secular societies can keep treating a place as significant too. Browsing this way lets a visitor tell a site with living religious observance apart from one preserved mainly for its history.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingKaya: the cleared, palisaded forest settlements the Mijikenda built for defence, left as places of residence by the mid-twentieth century and kept as places of prayer, of elder burial and of the deposit of protective fingo. The forest around them survives because entry and cutting are forbidden. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredNine Mijikenda peoples - Giriama, Digo, Duruma, Chonyi, Jibana, Kambe, Kauma, Rabai and Ribe - each with its own kaya and its own council of elders. Mijikenda names a federation of related peoples, not one people. 2 Learn More
Mijikenda sacred sites
This small group gathers a sacred site of the Mijikenda peoples of the Kenyan coast, most notably the kaya, sacred forests that sheltered their fortified villages and remain places of ancestral veneration and ritual.
The browser will find the site the atlas classes here. The entry describes its significance within the living Mijikenda tradition.
Access restricted by its custodians or by law
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Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, UNESCO World Heritage ListUNESCO World Heritage Centre
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. African Sacred Groves: Ecological Dynamics and Social Change
Michael J. Sheridan and Celia Nyamweru (eds.), Ohio University Press, 2008on the Mijikenda kayaView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, UNESCO World Heritage List
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