Odwira festival

The tradition & historical record

The Odwira Festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Fanteakwa District and Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Odwira Festival is celebrated by the people of Akropong-Akuapem, Aburi, Larteh, and Mamfe. This is celebrated annually in the month of September and October. The festival celebrates a historic victory over the Ashanti’s in 1826. This was the battle of Katamansu near Dodowa. It was first celebrated in October 1826. ¹

This was during the reign of the 19th Okuapehene of Akropong, Nana Addo Dankwa I, from 1811 to 1835. It is a time of spiritual purification where the people are renewed and receive protection. It is also celebrated by the people of Jamestown in Accra. This is due to the associations formed through the intermarriages of the Ga and Akuapem people. Customarily, the scheduling of the festival occurs simultaneously with the reaping season when there is bumper food; during which gratitude is shown to the Ancestors by the people. Being a yam festival, thanksgiving for the bumper reap is principally demonstrated in the "giving food to the ancestors". ¹

For nearly 200 years, generations of Akropong, Amanokrom and Aburi have annually celebrated the Odwira festival which was initiated by Nana Addo Dankwa 1 (1811 - 1835), the 19th Okuapehene of Akuapem. Other towns in the 17 Akuapem states also celebrate the Odwira festival. The celebration is linked to the victory of the people of Okuapeman over the then-powerful Asante army during the historic battle of Katamansu near Dodowa in 1826. Odwira celebration follows a long-standing routine of a tradition carefully planned from generation of old and occurs as follows: Adaebutu This is a period of quiet meditation. For forty days preceding the Odwira festival, there is a ban on all forms of noisemaking and funerals across Akuapem. Offenders are penalized for going against the order. Odwira da Monday In the Akan dispensation, there’s the belief that a chief never dies. Instead, a chief goes "to the village". On the Monday of Odwira, the path to this village is cleared. This sacred private event involves the clearing of the ceremonial path from the centre of Akropong, the capital of Okuapeman, to the Royal Mausoleum also known as Amanprobi. The ancient custom is led by the Abrafo (State Executioners) and their chief, the Adumhene. The path clearing symbolises that our ancestors (Nananom), will come and join the celebration of Odwira, at the Okuapehene’s Palace. ¹

Odwira da Tuesday Odwira is believed to be a spiritual gift bestowed from the Ancestors of the royal ruling clan. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Odwira festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Odwira festival is festival of Akropong Akuapim in Ghana, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²