Travelling to Lamu is an attraction in itself, whether it’s by air or across the rich blue waters of this tropical archipelago.
The streets of this antique town are never more than eight feet wide not even enough for two cars. Fortunately the town has only one car belonging to the local District Commissioner. Yet every visitor will acknowledge the difference as the air becomes cool and rich with the heady aromas and perfume from the markets.
Each year, Lamu comes to life during the Maulidi festival. Maulidi is the popular name given to Milan-un-Nabi an Islamic festival held during the third month of the Muslim calendar to celebrate the birth of the prophet Mohamed.
The festival is said to have originated in Egypt in the 8th Century, but the East African version is thought to have been started in Lamu in 1866 by Habib Swaleh Jamal Lely. It is said he also established the great Riyadha mosque in Lamu.
The Lamu Maulidi celebrations take several forms but at the core it is a joyous and devotional exercise that is bound together by culture. Though the main religious rites take place in and around the Riyadha Mosque there are many traditional games and dances at the seafront to capture the eye.
Cultural wealth
But despite Maulidi being an Islamic celebration, it’s fast becoming a foreign exchange earner. Many local and international tourists flock the town that is rich in cultural heritage and records the highest number of historical sites in the country.
During Maulidi, Lamu’s museum stages several competition and races designed to encourage local skills and practices central to the locals’ lives. These include local dances like Goma — a war song danced with swords in praise of heroes. The dance involves men holding long sticks or bakoras and swaying gently to the rhythm of the drums. They also pair off and arm themselves with traditional curved Arab swords and stage mock fights. This showcases one’s agility, poise and sword-handling skills.
For this year’s festival, NMK has send out circulars and invites to different competitors who might be interested in taking part in the different games.
Other activities that attract tourists include Swahili poetry, Henna painting, dhow and donkey race, tug of war, Arabic calligraphy among others. The dhow race is meant to encourage the art of sailing. For the race, some of the town’s finest dhows are selected to compete. It takes a combination of speed and manoeuvring skills sometimes under windy conditions to emerge victorious. Spectators, both locals and visitors follow the race from the town’s piers and jetties or from the roofs of the restaurants around.
Other crowd pullers include swimming and bao competitions. The swimming competition involves a challenging cross-country race along the water front. And in the sweltering heat, this no mean feat. At times it get so hot that many runners are forced to side track and plunge into water even when they are not required to in order top cool off.
Crowd pullersHowever, the highlight of Maulidi, which involves the Island’s symbol and is also the crowd’s favourite is the donkey race. It is said that local donkey riders spend the entire year training for this race and the winner takes another year to celebrate his victory. Like the dhow race, the town’s best donkeys are selected for the finals. It’s a sight to behold as riders hold onto their donkeys while trying to make them go faster, while others are tossed up in their air and onto the ground. It takes a lot to keep the animal on the path and ahead of others.
Under the shadow of large trees many of the men gather for Bao competition. This is thought to be the oldest known game in human history. The game is played on a board made of wood of four lines of shallow holes. The game itself involves beads, seeds or stones placed in the holes at terrific speed. At the same time a player should think fast to counter the moves of his opponents.
A display of traditional handicrafts and henna painting are a favourite with many women. Food lovers also have a chance to attend the Swahili Food Bazaar along the sea front.
Apart from hosting the religious activities, Riyadha mosque has organised medical camps in the honour of Habib Swaleh.
"One of Habib’s dream was to have a traditional Arabic clinic and this is why we have medical camps with every celebration," says Muhdhar Khitamy a great grandson of the Habib Swaleh.
Medical servicesThe mosque has also set up a VCT centre within the medical camp to ensure integrated services are available for all.
Though hotels and guesthouses expect full bookings given the large numbers of visitors, much needs to be done according to Titus Kang’angi, chairman of the Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers, Coast branch.
"Maulid is a big celebration in the coast region especially in Lamu, but I think there is need to improve it in terms of advertising so that as many people as possible can attend," said Kang’angi.
He added that, the celebrations should also as an opportunity to sensitise non-Muslims on the festival.
"There is need for the Maulid celebrations to be spiced up so that huge number of visitors coming from all over the world will also take time to learn and appreciate the cultural heritage of Lamu," he added.
Without a doubt, Maulidi is a celebration that brings together the ancient and the modern in a cultural pot. It present yet another proof of why Lamu has been a port of call for travellers for the last four centuries.
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