23. Colours of Africa: A visit to Ghana: The Larabanga Mosque and the Mystic Stone

Larabanga village location:

Larabanga village is situated in Western Gonja, Ghana about 84 km.  west from Tamale (the town from where we had to leave the four-lane metal Expressway onto a 90 km. dusty road for our main destination , Mole National Park, the evening before)  and some 16 km  from Damongo town (all locations being in  Ghana’s Northern Region, Ghana being  presently divided into10 Regions).

Larabanga is just about 6 kms. outside the Mole National Park, so in the evening of day one of our trip to Mole National Park, we coaxed Arvind, our friend in Ghana (called “Mr. Arvin” by the Ghanaians) to take us to Larabanga village to take a look at the mosque and the famed “Mystic Stone” which have put Larabanga on the World tourist Map. Arvind readily obliged and we went to Larabanga with Sumita at the wheel, trying her hand out at a left-hand drive vehicle (Ghana follows the USA pattern on the Roads,  with vehicles driving on the right hand side).

On the way to Larabanga village , a" Welcome" ("Maraba") sign

A Fashion shop

Children at Larabanga who insisted on being photographed and were thrilled to see their photo on camera 

   As we were running low on fuel, one of the issues confronting us on reaching Larabanga was to hunt for a petrol pump, which was simply not to be found in the town.

Instead, we found a person who introduced himself as Ahmed, who was very helpful in getting us fuel from a gallon (plastic jerry can) at a make shift “oil depot” which charged us 2 cedis (Ghana currency ) more than the official price per litre, as a premium for making fuel available in such a remote location as Larabanga!!

Early history of Larabanga town, as sustained through oral traditions over the centuries:

-      Ndewura Jakpa, the leader of the Gonjas took it upon himself to unite/conquer the vast lands in West Africa, but he faced much resistance from the diverse tribes and kingdoms. Jakpa had met with stiff resistance primarily from the ancient town of Kango in present day Cote d’ Ivoire which was hampering him in his conquests.

-      To assist him in his quest, he invited the first Kamaras to Ghana and sought their help namely, Idana Ibrahim and Fatawu Murkpe , who were both spiritual leaders and, also, possessed several magical charms to come from present day Saudi Arabia, to spiritually guide him and his troops in war strategy/battle.

-      Fatawu Murkpe and Idana Ibrahim used their spiritual powers and their magical charms to help the Gonjas capture Kango.  Ndewura Jakpa rewarded the Kamaras by letting them assist the Gonjas as Administrators of Islamic Law, prayer leaders and conflict mediators. Even today, it is not unusual for a Gonja to greet the Kamara people and add “Kongote” to their greetings (meaning “Kango is finished”) in honour of the historic Kamaras help in capturing Kango.

-      Ndewura Jakpa died in battle soon after this victory when he crossed the White Volta (The Volta River traverses across the length of Ghana and is called the “White Volta” in the North and as it flows further South it is called the “Black Volta”) a battle that he undertook, much against the advice of Ibrahim. Even today, as a result, the Gonja lands end at the Banks of the White Volta River.

-      Before he died, Ndewura Jakpa told Ibrahim, who by now was too old to travel back to Saudi Arabia that he could settle anywhere on the lands conquered by Jakpa. Ibrahim sat at the “Mystic Stone” offering some prayers to to seek further direction from God as to what should be his future course of action.

Legend of the Larabanga mosque:

The East Face of the Larabanga mosque which is visible as soon as one reaches the mosque through a maze of by-lanes

-       It is believed that when Idana Ibrahim was praying at the Mystic Stone, on where to stay in Gonja land, he had a dream that he should throw a spear with all his might and wherever the spear fell it would be Allah’s wish that he should build a mosque and reside there.

-      The next morning Ibrahim took a spear and threw it high in the sky, stating that wherever the spear landed would become his home and he would build a mosque there. On walking in the direction where the spear had been thrown for about 2 kms., Ibrahim was astonished to see that the spear had fallen on a site, where the foundations for the mosque had already been built. It seems that the spear had landed on the high fertile ground at “Zuriyir”, a village where the “Dhen Zuo” people had earlier settled and later abandoned due to invasions from the North. 

-      “Yirikpani” or “the landing of the Spear” is the name used, even present day, within Larabanga to describe the section of its community living around the mosque.

-      Taking it to be Allah’s will, he took upon himself to build the mosque, which mysteriously increased in height every night over and above what was built during the day. The mosque was accordingly said to have been built in double quick time with divine intervention. Ibrahim, then, declared the place where the mosque was built would now become his home.

-      Legend, thus, has it that the mosque was built by not only by the Will of God, but by God himself.

-      Ibrahim then took a wife from Mamprusi Region, North of Mole National Park and their Descendants make up the Community of Larabanga – present day.  

-      Ibrahim receives the holy Quran from Heavens by praying at the Mystic stone:

-      After Ndewura Jakpa died and Ibrahim had decided to remain in the Gonja land, he realized that as an Islamic spiritual leader or Imam, he needed a copy of the Quran. At this time there were only seven Qurans in existence, all of them written by hand and bound into no less than sixty “hinzibs” each and kept wrapped bulkily in many blankets in large calabash bowls in Mecca.

-      Ibrahim consulted an elderly man of the “Dhen Zuo” who was still residing in Zuriyir, although his people had left these lands long ago, (from whom he had earlier learnt of the Mystic stone).

-      On the old man’s advice, Ibrahim returned to the Mystic Stone and there he prayed hard for a copy of the Quran to be brought to Larabanga. It is said that his prayers were answered when one of the original seven copies of the Quran from Mecca was delivered to him from the Heavens.

This copy of the Quran is preserved in the village by a caretaker – present day – and it is brought out for special prayers each year during the Fire Festival when the Muslim new calendar commences. Many ex-residents of Larabanga village who have migrated to the Ivory Coast among other Muslims from all over Africa/Ghana visit the village whenever such special ceremonies are held to listen to the text being read from this divine Quran as well as teaching their little ones about the mystique surrounding this God-given mosque/Quran. 

-   As Idana Ibrahim had served at the mosque during his lifetime, Ibrahim’s grave is placed alongside the mosque, upon which a large baobab tree has sprung up as if standing on vigil over the grave as well as the mosque.

The Larabanga mosque:

-      Ahmed, (who we learnt later was the Community- elected Village Development Officer for education, cleanliness and developing tourism) and was perhaps the most literate person in the village and had doubled up as our Tour guide, taking us for an amazingly knowledgeable tour of the Larabanga mosque, gave an excellent /lucid 15-minute commentary on the history and legend of this Western Sudanese, architectural style  Sahelian mosque, which I video-taped for posterity.

Arvind and Rajeev going through a labyrinth of small passages through the village to reach the mosque

The Notice indicating the Fee structure for viewing the mosque

    

Ahmed taking us inside the "Larabanga Eco-tourism Office" to pay the fees for seeing the Larabanga mosque 

    -      The fees for seeing the Larabanga mosque is four cedis per person for foreigners and two cedis for Ghanaians.

  - Larabanga is believed to be the oldest mosque in Ghana and one of the oldest mosques in West Africa.

-      The age of the Larabanga mosque is uncertain.  The local villagers place its construction towards the beginning of the fifteenth century i.e. in 1421, however, in the absence of any documented evidences, the National Museum in Accra places its construction at anywhere between 1643-1675 by Imam Bramah (this assessment is based on having examined the copy of the Holy Quran kept inside the mosque said to have fallen from the Heavens. However, on the flip side, the story given a few paras  above, seems to debunk this conclusion, because, if the copy of the Quran is one of the first seven written copies, it’s age would be several centuries earlier than the mid-seventeenth century, which would place the age of the mosque as, again, undetermined).

-      Another assessment places the construction of this mosque at around the time the Trans-Saharan trade was at its climax.  This assessment is based on the logic that similar mud-based mosques along the trade-route in Northern Region that still exist even today, nevertheless, their period of construction remains largely unknown.

-      It is said that whatever one desires/ wishes and prays for at this mosque is immediately granted as the request is directly made to Allah himself. For instance, when coups are being attempted by the military so as to give Ghana a better government and economy, many Muslim soldiers have come and prayed at this mosque before participating in the coup attempts. There are many more such stories told about the mosque.  

Sumita and Arvind listening to Ahmed explaining the story/legend of the Larabanga mosque.I am busy taking his commentary on video.

   

Ahmed explaining the directions of the mosque entrances and the significance of the structural components

Ahmed explaining wher the grave of Idana Ibrahim is situated and how the Baobab tree has grown over the grave as if Ibrahim himself is guarding over the mosque which he had so lovingly built. The Fruits of the Baobab tree are eaten by the villagers on special occasions

I could'nt help notice the fact that although the baobab tree grows very close to the mosque, as if embracing it, but has grown away from the mosque as if it was "wilfully" avoiding causing any structural damage to the mosque. I told Ahmed as much. Surprisingly, he had'nt noticed this point.

    Four entrances to the Larabanga mosque:

-      Ahmed showed us that there are four entrances to the mosque –

-      one for the men, (the men sit in front inside the mosque facing towards Mecca)  

The South entrance door of the mosque is used by the men for entering the mosque

-      one for the women,(the women sit at the back inside the mosque, facing towards Mecca). As we went around the mosque taking video shots and photos, we saw a woman emerge from the mosque after praying.

The West entrance of the mosque is used by women to enter the mosque. This woman was exiting the mosque after offering prayers.

     -      one for the Mullah and 

The North side entrance  is for the Mullah to enter the mosque. Dont miss the support structures for the beams which fortify the building's strength 

      -      the fourth one for the Imam.

Arvind and Rajeev with Ahmed explaining the Imam's entrance 

The East side entrance, with the door facing South is for the Imam, the custodian of the Holy Quran of Idana Ibrahim.(Notice the double beam support on the right hand side)

  

This window on the North side of the mosque provides ventilation. It is the only window of its kind at the mosque. Notice that the Beams placed strategically both in the above photo and the one given below, provide ample support to the "packed Earth mud structure" of the Mosque guarding it against collapse during rains/heavy storms/harmattan (dry strong whirl-winds)season.

    

   

Notice that over every door are small diamond shaped air-vents which provide ample ventilation to the people praying inside, as well as "shaded light".

-  -      Intrigued at the relatively small size of the mosque, I asked Ahmed as to how many persons could pray at one time inside the mosque. He told us that about 200 persons could fit into the mosque at one time, (which seemed to us, as an unusually large number for a rather small structure, but we took his word for it). He further added that between 4000-5000 persons gather outside the mosque at prayer time belonging to 12 different clans comprising the village population.

Restoration of the Larabanga mosque:

-      It seems that Larabanga mosque has been restored several times during its period of existence. A recent restoration attempt in the 1970s resulted in moisture getting trapped within the Structure’s earthern walls and wooden support beams. This weakened the structure, causing the timber to rot and termite attacks compounded the problem. Damage from wind and rain led to the collapse of the mosque’s minaret during a storm in 2000.

-       This led to the mosque being placed on the “World Monuments Watch” list in 2002 by the “World Monuments Fund” (WMF).

-      Larabanga mosque was constructed primarily using packed earth. Its Western Sudanese style of Architectural construction is characterized by the use of horizontal timber, pyramidical towers, buttresses and triangular perforations over the entry portals. The North-West corner of the building has a minaret, while a mihrab points East towards Mecca. It is one of only eight such mosques built in the country in this architectural design and has long been a pilgrimage site for Ghana’s Muslims.

-      In addition, it seems that part of the mud structure of the mosque got washed away and had to be again restored. Accordingly, American Express as part of its Community Service programme had donated a $50,000 to the WMF to part fund the WMF’s restoration efforts for the mosque.

-      These funds were used to reassessing the level of conservation required for the site and for funding local artisans and labourers employed to restore the monument with particular care being taken for its mud-plaster maintenance.

-       A team worked carefully to remove the inappropriately applied cement from the mosque’s walls and replace it with traditional mud-based plaster. The rotting wood was removed, the building’s portal and the collapsed minaret and mihrab were repaired, leading to the building being made sturdier.

-      Nevertheless, the use of traditional building techniques and craftsmanship attracts continuous interest worldwide, in the artisanship used in the mosque construction.

-      In addition to this, Ahmed showed us a few other mosques built in modern styles and informed us that as interest has been generated in the Larabanga Mosque worldwide, foreign help has helped build at least six other mosques in the village with donors and financial Institutions helping out generously.

The Mystic stone:

Location:

The Care-taker of the Mystic Stone is on the right

-      The Mystic Stone lies about 2 km. drive from the Larabanga mosque on the Wa-Sawle-Tamale road. Ahmed took us there and I went to meet the mystic stone’s caretaker. I was immediately surrounded by a few kids who addressed me as “Bruni” (foreigner) and wanted to shake my hand.

-      The fees for the Care-taker explaining the legend of the Mystic Stone was 2 cedis, which I promptly paid – but there was a small difficulty. The caretaker could not speak in English. So, Ahmed had to explain the whole history of the Stone to me in English, which I, also, captured on my video.

A make-shift three-face stone wall is placed around the Mystic Stone

The Mystic Stone as visible from the open side. On seeing the Stone, time stands still, and one connects with its immense history and mystical powers

Ahmed explains the powers of the Mystic Stone. I could'nt help noticing that both the caretaker and his son kept touching the Mystic Stone (as if connecting with its mystical powers) while its history were being explained to me. (After shooting my video, I, too,  touched the Stone and felt an instant connect to Idana Ibrahim and the Mystics who had guarded the Stone over the centuries).

      -  I asked Ahmed why was the road on which we were travelling skirting the Mystic stone by a noticeably wide margin instead of going straight alongside the Stone.

Ahmed had an interesting tale to narrate:

Laying of the Wa-Sawle-Tamale road after skirting the Mystic Stone:

-      It is said that when this road was being constructed by the British Authorities in the 1950s (Remember Ghana got its Independence from the British in 1957), the Mystic Stone fell directly in its path. Therefore, the stone was removed for paving the road at the place where the stone lay. The next morning, the road laying team found that the stone had returned to its original place, much to their amazement. The road construction team was baffled that every time they attempted to shift the stone, it kept coming back to its original site. The authorities thereafter got wary of the mystical powers of the Stone and had no alternative left, but to change the direction of the road to go around the place where the stone was kept, instead of over it.

The Wa-Sawle-Tamale road can be seen in the background, after going around the Mystic Stone

The Mystic Stone protects Gonja lands from invaders:

-      There is another interesting story built around the Mystic Stone.

-      A warrior named Samuri Turi belonging to present day Guinea was on an all-conquering spree of West Africa. When his troops coming along the Trans – Saharan Trade route reached the Mystic Stone they were unable to cross due to some strange phenomenon. It is said that the horses and chariots sank into the ground and Samuri was forced to heed an old warning given by his grandfather that while his conquests would be great, he would one day come upon a land protected by divine forces/will and there he would be defeated by supernatural forces.

-      Samuri was so shaken by his troop’s failure to advance forward that he made peace with the elders of Larabanga and was invited to a feast at the village. During the feast he was told of an ancient hat with magical powers which was worn by one of the elders of Larabanga village during the Feast.

-      He was warned not to demand the hat for himself, because it had supernatural powers which protected the village, but a hostile person would come to grief, if he wore that hat. Samuri rubbished this old Oracle and demanded and wore that hat into his next battle near Busunu in which he was himself killed. To this day no horses are found in Larabanga and no one with hostile intentions is said to be able to pass through the Mystic Stone.

-      The place where the Mystic Stone is placed is known as “Zybgeni” or “base of the mountain”. It is interesting to note that the area around the Mystic Stone,  served as a shady resting place for those travelers going on the ancient trans-Saharan trade route.

Thus, the Mystic stone and the Divine – built mosque at Larabanga continue to act as  spiritual protectors of Gonja land. 

Larabanga town – present day

Today, Larabanga is predominantly a Muslim village and has a community of some 3000 Muslim families, who have retained their individual identity. Most of them trace their direct descent from Jakpa and Ibrahim and have lived in harmony ever since.

No School for children and village environment:

Ahmed showing Rajeev a "Neem" Tree. It seems that this tree is called by the same name in Larabanga as in India

A hen family

Children without education

Whiling away time near the Mosque

Village structures at Larabanga

Ahmad, took us for  a walk around the village and on being asked as to why we were not seeing any school around, he told us that the elders of the community had not accepted the Ghana Government’s offer to set up a primary school in the village as the Community is more keen in following Muslim traditions and is more interested in setting up a “Madrassa”. There are only a few literate persons living in the village including Ahmed and they have studied at the Government schools at Damonga.

 Whichever way the turn of events fall, we do wish that the village has some kind of a school as the little children are growing up without education and are indulging in the National pastime of playing a game of Football or Oware (game played between two players) which is akin to Chongkak played in Malaysia and in Southern India.

 Another thing we could not help noticing was that a whole lot of plastic packets/bags were littered all over Larabanga village , most unlike the villages we had seen all over Ghana, and we made it a point to tell this to Ahmed as the garbage took away from the structural beauty of the mosque. I  even mentioned this in the comments book that Ahmed gave me to write in at the end of our tour.

Ahmed told us that he felt the same way and promised that he would get everyone in the village to do community service and clean up the village, so that the next time we come to Larabanga village, we would see an entirely clean place, commensurate with the Mystical mosque and the Mystic Stone which are truly imbued with a lot of spiritual history and positive energies!!.

(This post has been researched and written  by Rajeev. Photos are by both Sumita and Rajeev)

Links:


1) Adinkra symbols of Ghana, West Africa

2)Bosumchwe or Bosumchwi Lake, Ghana

3) El Mina Slave Castle, Fort, Ghana

4) History of Coins and Currency of Ghana  

5) Mole National Park, Ghana

6) Funerals are a celebration in Ghana

7) Food and Culture of Ghana

8) A visit to Ghana  

9) Oware : the ancient Board Game of Ghana