Chiefs, Priests wrap up sprinkling of kpokpoi

Chiefs and Priests in Ga Mashi wrapped up the sprinkling of the Homowo meal called Kpokpoi in style as the crowd accompanied them with singing and dancing from the start to the end of the sprinkling of kpokpoi.

Kpokpoi, the traditional meal prepared on the day of the Homowo festival is made from steamed, fermented corn meal and palm oil, often with okra or smoked fish added, served with palm soup.

Everyone in a family must dip into the same bowl or pot of kpokpoi at the same time as a symbolic reminder that distinctions of age, rank, and gender are overlooked during the Homowo celebration.

In addition to being served at the family feast, kpokpoi is sprinkled by Ga priests or chiefs around residential areas and cemeteries as a tribute to the dead ancestors and as a way of symbolically "nourishing" them.

In homes, the head of the family might sprinkle some kpokpoi in places where the departed ancestors are likely to find it, especially around the doorways.

After this ceremony, dancing, drumming and hooting begin.

It is believed that the Homowo celebration is rooted in the Jewish celebration of PASSOVER and that kpokpoi plays a role similar to that of unleavened bread.

The Gas often mark their doorposts with red or ochre clay during Homowo to keep evil spirits away, just as the Jews sprinkled blood on their doorways to keep the Angel of Death from harming their firstborn sons, would seem to support this theory.

Watch a video from this year's celebration below