Adae Kese Festival ("big resting place") is an important albeit rare celebration among the Ashantis in Ghana.
[1] The festival is mostly held to climax celebrations of specific achievements and milestones of the people of the Ashanti kingdom.
It comprises rituals which is aimed purifying the spirit of the King's palace chambers by members of the royal family and other dignitaries.
[1] The custom of holding this festival came into prominence between 1697 and 1699 when statehood was achieved for the people of Ashante after the war of independence, the Battle of Feyiase, against the Denkyira.
[2] The festival was observed subsequently to the establishment of the Golden Stool (throne) in 1700.It is celebrated to mark milestones in the history of the Ashante Kingdom.
Adae Kese brought a link and a level of faith and solidarity between the living and the ancestral spirits.
When the festival was announced, by beating of drums, people went into hiding for fear that they may be selected for the human sacrifice.
Whether human sacrifice was involved or not is a subject of debate, but the fact is that the African societies considered these rites as a "reunion between the living and the dead.
[8] The purification ceremony of Odwira is celebrated during Adae Kese at the burial shrines of ancestral spirits.
Every five years, the Adae Kese Festival is hosted by the paramount ruler of the Asante in the capital city of Kumasi, Asanteman, and lasts for two weeks.
[2] Asantehene, the titular ruler of Kumasi, holds a colourful durbar of chiefs and their queens on this occasion when they all turn up in full regalia.
The king also holds a very private celebration within his palace chambers along with the designated members of the royal family and other officials.
[4] Among other activities that take place on the day of the festival, the chief is carried through the streets of Kumasi in procession.
[10] The following version of the drum recitation was written by Robert Sutherland Rattray in 1923: "Oh, Divine Drummer, I am scarcely awake and have risen up.