The Fandroana, termed the Royal Bath by 19th century European historians, is the annual New Year's festival of the Merina people inhabiting the highlands of central Madagascar. The origins of the festival are preserved through oral history. According to folk legend, the wild zebu cattle that roamed the Highlands were first domesticated for food in Imerina under the reign of Ralambo. Different legends attribute the discovery that zebu were edible to the king's servant[1] or to Ralambo himself.[2] Ralambo is credited with founding the traditional ceremony of the fandroana to celebrate this discovery,[3][4] although others have suggested he merely added certain practices to the celebration of a long-standing ritual.[5]
- ^ Bloch, Maurice (1985). "Almost Eating the Ancestors". Man. 20 (4): 631–646. doi:10.2307/2802754. JSTOR 2802754.
- ^ Raison-Jourde, Françoise (1983). Les souverains de Madagascar (in French). Antananarivo: Karthala Editions. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-2-86537-059-7. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
delawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ogot, Bethwell A. (1992). Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Paris: UNESCO. p. 876. ISBN 978-92-3-101711-7. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
- ^ Madatana. "Colline d'Ambohidrabiby" (in French). Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2010.