Religions and Origins of Madagascar


   Madagascar has an abundant amount of religious and spiritual beliefs, some of which are only practiced in a certain area on the island. The Malagasy people do practice Christianity (41%) and Islam (7%) but most of the peoples of Madagascar are pagan (51%)[1]. Christianity is high in the nation of Madagascar but most of the time, the Malagasy people tend to borrow aspects from Christianity and combine them with their traditional beliefs. 


  
   Most Malagasy people have accepted the existence of a supreme God, known as Zanahary (Creator) or Andriamanitra (Sweet, or Fragrant, Lord). However, the most basic of their traditional beliefs is the existence of close ties between the living and the dead. The Malagasy believe that the dead play a part in intermediary between the supreme God and humans and have the power to affect the fortunes of the living for good or evil.
   
   
   The burial tomb has become the link between the living and the dead of the Malagasy peoples. Most often the tomb is built with great care and expense that shows the privileged position of the dead. These tombs are often more costly and substantial than the houses of the living. Like the beliefs of the Malagasy people, these tombs often differ in form, the materials that they consist of, and décor.
   
   While this belief of the importance the dead plays in the lives of the living is nationwide, there can be different customs associated with this practice. For example, among the people in the central highlands of Madagascar, there is a custom called famadihana (placing or turning of the dead) which reaffirms the link between the dead and the living. What this custom consists of is taking the dead from a temporary to a permanent tomb and wrapping the remains in a new shroud or just simply moving a body from one tomb to another. This custom is only done within the central highlands of Madagascar. 


   
   The nineteenth century is when Christianity and traditional beliefs experienced a confrontation. Idolatry was challenged and mostly destroyed during this time though traditional beliefs have been left alone. Christian and traditional beliefs have simply blended within the Madagascar culture.






Sources Cited: 

Golden, Christopher. 2014. "Spiritual Roots of the Land." Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture & Ecology 18, no. 3: 255-268. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2018).

Taylor, Franklyn. "Madagascar." In Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures, and Contemporary Issues, edited by Steven Danver. Routledge, 2013. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpegmcv/madagascar/0?institutionId=5072


                                                                                          
[1] Golden, Christopher. 2014. "Spiritual Roots of the Land." Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture & Ecology 18, no. 3: 255-268. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2018).

Popular posts from this blog

Akotifahana Weavers of Madagascar

Image
   The island of Madagascar is one of the East African regions that is home to some of the oldest and most important historic centers of cloth production. A special focus is on the Merina weavers (Fig. 1) of the central highlands in Madagascar. They were among the island’s most prolific and innovative cloth makers.    One of the most renown cloths is the akotifahana. Akotifahanas are woven from lustrous “Chinese” silk with intricate patterns and riotous color. These large mantles were made in the Merina kingdom of the central highlands in Madagascar. They were made to dress the elites and to wrap their revered for burial. Many times, Merina King and Queens would gift these prestigious cloths to high-ranking subjects and foreign allies. These cloths have been analyzed for religious or socio-political reasons, but none have been found. According to the chapter Things for Making Cloth in the “Ombaisy’s Manuscript,” the designs for akotifahanas were random an...
Read more

Madagascar First Contacts

Image
   Madagascar has a population that is predominantly of mixed Asian and African origin. The island of Madagascar was uninhabited until Indonesian seafarers arrived around the first century A.D. and married African wives and slaves. Migrations continued from both the Pacific and Africa which furthered the mixture of Asians and Africans.    The seventh century A.D. brought about the written history of Madagascar. Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast. It wasn’t until the 1500's that Madagascar experienced European contact. A Portuguese sea captain, Diego Dias, sighted the island when his ship became separated from a fleet that was bound for India. Since then there have been numerous contacts between Europeans and the Malagasy people and each time they were able to resist the attempts made by the Europeans to establish footholds on the island.  [1] Map of the community at Tranovato Ilha de Santa Cruz 1656 Madagascar. - Author Flacourt....
Read more

Missions in Madagascar

Image
   Christianity was not the first religion to get to the island of Madagascar. Around the Middle Ages, Islam was brought to the island by Arab and Somali Muslim traders but failed to take hold in several southeastern coastal communities. However, a few Islamic schools were established along the eastern coast. Today Muslims make up about 7% of Madagascar’s population.    The Malagasy people, especially in Imerina, were oddly receptive of European ideas and influences which was unique in an African country in the nineteenth century. Christianity was introduced to the island of Madagascar by British missionaries between 1818 and 1895. These dates are from when the first British missionaries arrived on the island to the year when Madagascar was conquered by the French and lost their independence.    Formal education began in 1820 at the Palace School in Antananarivo but Christianity itself was not taught until 1829 when it was integrated into and taug...
Read more