Damera
A festival in the exhilarating season
For any tourist who wishes to visit Ethiopia, this is one of the ideal seasons which leaves visitors with an unforgettable experience. Meskerem, the first month of the year in the Ethiopian calendar, signals the culmination of the major rainy season, Kirmet in vernacular, which begins in June.
The land in most parts of the country starts to shine bright with yellow seasonal flowers locally called Adey Ababa. The wet blessing from the skies shower the land and the land responds immediately by giving birth to all kinds of seeds buried in her womb, hence the meadow, mountains, and fields turn green.
You walk on a carpet of green grass and Adey Ababa as most businesses scatter the fresh adornments on their floors. It is also common to see such adornments in a corner where the breathtaking coffee ceremony takes place. The green and yellow fresh plants that cover the floor as well as a thick smoke from hand-roasted coffee beans which fill the entire spaces of a living room, restaurant or what have you not only exhilarate the mind but also reach to every nerve ending.
During Kirmet rivers flow in full volume, roaring along their courses, but Meskerem silences the flash food, no sooner, the course gets empty, and the riverbed turns naked. This is an opportune moment to residents, particularly in rural places where modern bridges are still absent, the month brings joy as people at both sides of a river can now get together. Likewise, communication among neighborhoods will resume.
This seems the reason behind verses in a famous song which is usually chanted at the eve of New Year and during one of the colorful festivities, Damera. It suggests that family reunion is a must when the rain stops, that is in the month of Meskerem. Here are the verses: Meskerem seeteba adey seefeneda, Inkuone sew zemadun yeteyikal bada, more or less translated as 'late alone visiting relatives or families, it is appropriate to visit non-relatives when the rains stop and the flowers open'.
The word Demera has a meaning “to add”. According to some literature, the 'legendary' Queen Eleni had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she shall make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. Then, she burnt frankincense; one of the best incense still found in the East African country, Ethiopia, the smoke from the Damera rose high and bent locating the mountain that the true cross had been buried.
Every year in the mid of Meskerem particularly the faithful of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church prepare a bonfire in their neighborhood. And colorfully observe the day. The next day is a public holiday called Meskel.
The grand celebration of Demera occurs in Addis Ababa in a place called Meskel square. The place is named after the celebration of this festivity. Scores of people from various walks of life make their way to the place. And a huge cone-shaped bonfire also prepared in the square. By the way, the square also hosts assorted kinds of social, political and economic gatherings. It is designed by a Hungarian architect called C.K. Poly during Derg regime. The name of the square was changed to Revolution Square. After the coming of Derg regime to a forced end, the square is renamed as Maskal Square.
In the eve (during Demera), celebration, the church's top clergymen make prayers and praise God for blessing the country and its people with a New Year. The laity also joins the fathers in glorifying the creator. Owe-inspiring celestial dancing and chanting are also performed by both the scholars (called Debteras) of the church and Sunday school students who beat hand-drum, shake Tsenatsen (Sistrum), and move their bodies gently in line with the rhythm. The event then gets concluded with the burning of the massive bonfire in the evening when the sunsets.
The exuberant festivity not only grabs the entire attention of first-time visitors, it also thrills regulars. Meskel/Demera is a UNESCO registered world's intangible heritage.