Walking in the footsteps of Buganda’s ancient royals
Oct 03, 2003
It was the Katikkiro (Prime minister), Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere’s second and final day of inspecting some of the Kabaka Foundation’s humanitarian and cultural conservation projects.
By Raphael Okello
It was the Katikkiro (Prime minister), Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere’s second and final day of inspecting some of the Kabaka Foundation’s humanitarian and cultural conservation projects.
On a searing Friday morning two weeks ago, I joined his entourage in what became an exciting journey that shipped us into three sacred burial grounds of Buganda’s monarchs long gone - Nnamasole Baagalayaze Tombs (the burial ground for Ssekabaka Mwanga’s mother), Wamala tombs (the Ssekabaka Suuna II), and Nnamasole Kanyange tombs (the tombs of his beloved beautiful mother). All the three royal tombs bristled with colourful traditional music, dance and drama performances in a classic joyous welcome rendition greatly appreciated by the Katikkiro and his entourage.
Through a dusty and rugged road, we drove about two kilometres off Bombo Road, to Kanyange tombs, the burial place of the most revered, beautiful and influential woman in Ssekabaka Suuna’s Royal Court, his mother - Nnamasole (Queen Mother) Kanyange.
The excited percussionists heatedly smacked the drums that were strung around their necks, invoking potent rhythms that compelled the female and male dancers to wriggle animatedly. I was a tad worried. Waist bones were about to be broken in happiness or total lunacy! Everyone humbled for the Katikkiro. It was the first site we were visiting.
For about 30 minutes, drum thuds rocked and the vocals of Kanyange cultural group resounded through the site that instantly assumed the face of a grand cultural festival as the Katikkiro was conducted in and around the sanctified tomb.
But when the venerated rhythms of the sacred drum, Kuzala Kuzibu, reverberated inside the dim royal tombs of Kanyange, the Katikkiro was awed. And for a moment, the thunderous drums outside fell silent in respect of Kuzala Kuzibu.
“During the reign of Suuna II who died around 1856, this drum was often beaten to remind his highness Suuna, whose palace was perched on the opposite hill at Wamala, that his mother was still alive and well,†Luwombojjo Wantente, the prime minister of Kanyange, explained before drumming.
Oral tradition has it that Suuna could have strategically built his mother a palace on a hill opposite his because he could not bear to be separated from her. Whatever reasons are advanced, Suuna’s love for his mother, is clearly manifested.
And our hot afternoon expedition to Wamala tombs, we figuratively retraced the steps that Suuna and Kanyange followed during their routine visits to one other. In every distance that we covered down into the valley and up the hill, we could feel that there once passed along the same road an unfathomable love between mother and son.
Perched on a hilltop and commanding a panoramic view of the green surrounding villages, Wamala tombs, the burial ground of Buganda’s powerful and despotic ruler is an astonishing place of ritual and ceremony.
As a custom carried out while inside any tomb, the Katikkiro made cash offerings to Suuna and other tomb spirits in two baskets placed in front of a crown of ancient spears and shields that surround the central platform. Like all royal tombs in Buganda, a barkcloth screen in Wamala tombs hides a mythical eternal forest where Suuna is believed to have journeyed for everlasting life.
The caretakers and Wamala cultural group entertainers had been anxiously waiting for the arrival of their Prime Minister. They gathered in a crowd, danced and chanted in unison. In their songs, they cried out for the revival of Buganda’s rich cultural traditions that are steadily fading in the face of vigorous western cultural intrusion. And the Katikkiro echoed their dilemma.
“I do not understand why certain people who assume to be more pious than others negatively regard our cultural heritage as demonic?â€
he said in rhetoric during a brief address. “Even before the coming of the white man, we had our cultures and we were proud of them. The grass thatched houses show that we built our own shelters, the barkcloth shows that we had our own dressing and the drums show that we had our own form of entertainment.â€
The story etched within Nnamasole Baagalayaze tombs, our final heritage trail for the day later that evening, in one way or another is a classic metaphor of the plight that most heritage sites have over the years undergone. Inside the tombs is a peaceful retreat, an African traditional backyard, within whose historic pages is engraved a traumatic story of repression and an inspirational tale of revival.
During Obote II’s regime, the Nnamasole encountered and survived two brutal attacks from Government troops. Consequently, the tombs were forsaken and collapsed only to be restored in 1998.
Initially the tombs were the palace of Baagalayaze, Kabaka Mwanga II’s mother. However, upon her death in 1916, it was turned into her burial ground. The reigning Queen mother was three when she inherited her position. It is touching to learn that almost all of Buganda’s cultural sites had been pillaged and left to rot during the horrendous battles that typified the past political regimes.
But in 1998, the Kabaka Foundation (KF) through the Heritage Trails, embarked on an intensive restoration campaign that now covers six heritage sites - Ssezzibwa Falls in Mukono, Katereke Prison ditch, Nnamasole Baagalyaze tombs, Wamala tombs, Kanyange tombs, Naggalabi Buddo coronation site and soon to include Kalagala Falls in Kayunga district.
“The trail Project was conceived by the Kabaka in 1996 to try and reduce poverty, promote conservation of cultural heritage and creating awareness of cultural values,†said Louis Dixie, the communications officer for Kabaka Foundation. Since then, a great deal of work and effort has been and continues to be injected into the revival and rehabilitation of these remarkable heritage sites.
From being regarded as wrecked and forgotten relics of the ancient Ganda Kingdom, today all the cultural heritage trail sites are established tourism centres where visitors listen to the tragic, inspirational and fascinating stories about the ancient Ganda kingdom, kings and their beloved mothers as well as exploring the cultural wealth of Buganda.
It was the Katikkiro (Prime minister), Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere’s second and final day of inspecting some of the Kabaka Foundation’s humanitarian and cultural conservation projects.
On a searing Friday morning two weeks ago, I joined his entourage in what became an exciting journey that shipped us into three sacred burial grounds of Buganda’s monarchs long gone - Nnamasole Baagalayaze Tombs (the burial ground for Ssekabaka Mwanga’s mother), Wamala tombs (the Ssekabaka Suuna II), and Nnamasole Kanyange tombs (the tombs of his beloved beautiful mother). All the three royal tombs bristled with colourful traditional music, dance and drama performances in a classic joyous welcome rendition greatly appreciated by the Katikkiro and his entourage.
Through a dusty and rugged road, we drove about two kilometres off Bombo Road, to Kanyange tombs, the burial place of the most revered, beautiful and influential woman in Ssekabaka Suuna’s Royal Court, his mother - Nnamasole (Queen Mother) Kanyange.
The excited percussionists heatedly smacked the drums that were strung around their necks, invoking potent rhythms that compelled the female and male dancers to wriggle animatedly. I was a tad worried. Waist bones were about to be broken in happiness or total lunacy! Everyone humbled for the Katikkiro. It was the first site we were visiting.
For about 30 minutes, drum thuds rocked and the vocals of Kanyange cultural group resounded through the site that instantly assumed the face of a grand cultural festival as the Katikkiro was conducted in and around the sanctified tomb.
But when the venerated rhythms of the sacred drum, Kuzala Kuzibu, reverberated inside the dim royal tombs of Kanyange, the Katikkiro was awed. And for a moment, the thunderous drums outside fell silent in respect of Kuzala Kuzibu.
“During the reign of Suuna II who died around 1856, this drum was often beaten to remind his highness Suuna, whose palace was perched on the opposite hill at Wamala, that his mother was still alive and well,†Luwombojjo Wantente, the prime minister of Kanyange, explained before drumming.
Oral tradition has it that Suuna could have strategically built his mother a palace on a hill opposite his because he could not bear to be separated from her. Whatever reasons are advanced, Suuna’s love for his mother, is clearly manifested.
And our hot afternoon expedition to Wamala tombs, we figuratively retraced the steps that Suuna and Kanyange followed during their routine visits to one other. In every distance that we covered down into the valley and up the hill, we could feel that there once passed along the same road an unfathomable love between mother and son.
Perched on a hilltop and commanding a panoramic view of the green surrounding villages, Wamala tombs, the burial ground of Buganda’s powerful and despotic ruler is an astonishing place of ritual and ceremony.
As a custom carried out while inside any tomb, the Katikkiro made cash offerings to Suuna and other tomb spirits in two baskets placed in front of a crown of ancient spears and shields that surround the central platform. Like all royal tombs in Buganda, a barkcloth screen in Wamala tombs hides a mythical eternal forest where Suuna is believed to have journeyed for everlasting life.
The caretakers and Wamala cultural group entertainers had been anxiously waiting for the arrival of their Prime Minister. They gathered in a crowd, danced and chanted in unison. In their songs, they cried out for the revival of Buganda’s rich cultural traditions that are steadily fading in the face of vigorous western cultural intrusion. And the Katikkiro echoed their dilemma.
“I do not understand why certain people who assume to be more pious than others negatively regard our cultural heritage as demonic?â€
he said in rhetoric during a brief address. “Even before the coming of the white man, we had our cultures and we were proud of them. The grass thatched houses show that we built our own shelters, the barkcloth shows that we had our own dressing and the drums show that we had our own form of entertainment.â€
The story etched within Nnamasole Baagalayaze tombs, our final heritage trail for the day later that evening, in one way or another is a classic metaphor of the plight that most heritage sites have over the years undergone. Inside the tombs is a peaceful retreat, an African traditional backyard, within whose historic pages is engraved a traumatic story of repression and an inspirational tale of revival.
During Obote II’s regime, the Nnamasole encountered and survived two brutal attacks from Government troops. Consequently, the tombs were forsaken and collapsed only to be restored in 1998.
Initially the tombs were the palace of Baagalayaze, Kabaka Mwanga II’s mother. However, upon her death in 1916, it was turned into her burial ground. The reigning Queen mother was three when she inherited her position. It is touching to learn that almost all of Buganda’s cultural sites had been pillaged and left to rot during the horrendous battles that typified the past political regimes.
But in 1998, the Kabaka Foundation (KF) through the Heritage Trails, embarked on an intensive restoration campaign that now covers six heritage sites - Ssezzibwa Falls in Mukono, Katereke Prison ditch, Nnamasole Baagalyaze tombs, Wamala tombs, Kanyange tombs, Naggalabi Buddo coronation site and soon to include Kalagala Falls in Kayunga district.
“The trail Project was conceived by the Kabaka in 1996 to try and reduce poverty, promote conservation of cultural heritage and creating awareness of cultural values,†said Louis Dixie, the communications officer for Kabaka Foundation. Since then, a great deal of work and effort has been and continues to be injected into the revival and rehabilitation of these remarkable heritage sites.
From being regarded as wrecked and forgotten relics of the ancient Ganda Kingdom, today all the cultural heritage trail sites are established tourism centres where visitors listen to the tragic, inspirational and fascinating stories about the ancient Ganda kingdom, kings and their beloved mothers as well as exploring the cultural wealth of Buganda.