The rain did indeed stop and the sun came out! Jocelin drove us via the scenic, rural route to avoid the traffic jams to Ambohimanga, a UNESCO World
Heritage site, a fortified hilltop where the kings and queens from the Merina
people, who unified Madagascar in the 18th century and ruled over it
until being on the losing side of the Franco-Malagasy War in the 1890s,
maintained a residence.
The French colonial authorities did not treat Ambohimanga
kindly, as it was a potent symbol of the Malagasy nation of which they had taken
control. When one considers that the
area of Madagascar slightly exceeds that of France itself, one gets one insight
into the enormous audacity of European colonial ventures.
In addition to rebuilt parts of the residence, and a number
of medicinal trees – still used for that purpose throughout Madagascar – you
can see part of the dry moat around the hilltop, and an impressive brick-built
gateway. The inward side of the gateway used
to be closed by rolling across it a 10 ft diameter flat stone that still rests
at one side of the gateway.
The hilltop used to give views of forest (Ambohi-) that
extended as far as the eye could see until they looked blue (–manga) towards
the horizon. Nowadays, the view is still
impressive but consists of villages and lowland rice fields ringed by hills
that look as if they should be covered in forest but no longer are (a
distressingly all too typical sight in Madagascar). In the distance one can make out the distinctive
outline of the (former) Queens’ Palace on the highest hill in Antananarivo, and
the tall buildings in the centre.
Traditional Malagasy culture and religion involves a major
role for ancestors. Royalty also played
a partly-religious role. The air near
the royal residence was perfumed by incense being burned by two groups of
visitors seeking the blessing of the long-departed royalty. A fire extinguisher hung on a nearby tree,
just in case!
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| Small black incense burners by royal tombs |
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