<b>Whatâs in a name? Goddesses have always been worshipped</b>
by RASNA WARAH
LAST WEEK, PCEA MODERATOR David Githii banned the use of the word âharambeeâ â the national rallying cry popularised by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta â from his congregationâs vocabulary and urged the rest of Kenyans to do the same.
Apparently, the pastor believes that because the word originated from an invocation to the Hindu goddess âAmbeeâ, it is having a negative spiritual effect on the countryâs mostly Christian population.
<b>According to folklore, in the days when the Uganda Railway was being built between 1896 and 1902, Hindu labourers would shout the words âHar Ambeeâ (much like the Catholic invocation Hail Mary) when pulling heavy loads together.
</b>
This act of âpulling togetherâ is what gave the words new meaning in post-independence Kenya when Kenyatta would urge Kenyans to unite for the development of the country.
During this time, the word harambee was also used to fund-raise for several community-based projects around the country.
If the pastor had objected to the very concept of harambee, which got horribly twisted in the Moi era when it was used to extort money from people and was the vehicle through which many corrupt deeds were committed, I might have understood, but to say that the word itself carries negative connotations, is, to say the least, far-fetched.
Until I heard it from the Rev Githii, I had no idea that Ambee was a Hindu goddess. My main source of information on this Hindu deity was, ironically, a Christian online magazine that suggested that Kenya was disaster-prone because it worshipped a Hindu goddess, and that the USA was a superpower because the words âIn God We Trustâ appear on the US dollar!
The pastor has thus inadvertently revived a goddess that has mostly been forgotten by the people who once worshipped her.
While it is true that Ambee is a Hindu goddess, the word harambee (as pronounced, spelt and understood in Kenya) does not exist in the Hindu vocabulary.
...
by RASNA WARAH
LAST WEEK, PCEA MODERATOR David Githii banned the use of the word âharambeeâ â the national rallying cry popularised by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta â from his congregationâs vocabulary and urged the rest of Kenyans to do the same.
Apparently, the pastor believes that because the word originated from an invocation to the Hindu goddess âAmbeeâ, it is having a negative spiritual effect on the countryâs mostly Christian population.
<b>According to folklore, in the days when the Uganda Railway was being built between 1896 and 1902, Hindu labourers would shout the words âHar Ambeeâ (much like the Catholic invocation Hail Mary) when pulling heavy loads together.
</b>
This act of âpulling togetherâ is what gave the words new meaning in post-independence Kenya when Kenyatta would urge Kenyans to unite for the development of the country.
During this time, the word harambee was also used to fund-raise for several community-based projects around the country.
If the pastor had objected to the very concept of harambee, which got horribly twisted in the Moi era when it was used to extort money from people and was the vehicle through which many corrupt deeds were committed, I might have understood, but to say that the word itself carries negative connotations, is, to say the least, far-fetched.
Until I heard it from the Rev Githii, I had no idea that Ambee was a Hindu goddess. My main source of information on this Hindu deity was, ironically, a Christian online magazine that suggested that Kenya was disaster-prone because it worshipped a Hindu goddess, and that the USA was a superpower because the words âIn God We Trustâ appear on the US dollar!
The pastor has thus inadvertently revived a goddess that has mostly been forgotten by the people who once worshipped her.
While it is true that Ambee is a Hindu goddess, the word harambee (as pronounced, spelt and understood in Kenya) does not exist in the Hindu vocabulary.
...