[Benin] The Chameleon Temple, Obamey, Benin - Location stamp proposal
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Yann2
Benin location stamp proposal - The Chameleon Temple, Obamey, Benin
The biggest religion of Benin, Voodoo has over 50 million believers in West Africa and further huge followings in parts of the Caribbean, South America and even some regions of the southern United States.
An animistic religion whose roots stretch back thousands of years, its name means ‘god’, ‘spirit’ or ‘power’ in the Fon language; and its followers believe not in the clichés of the living dead, but instead in the power of nature and the natural forces that course through everything.
Abomey
Although known as a royal city, Abomey is a pleasant place to enjoy a day peering into the recesses of the market and discovering small Voodoo shrines squirreled away up dusty side streets. Those interested in Voodoo culture shouldn’t miss the fetish market, just a short way outside of the town centre – it’s one of the biggest and goriest in the country.
Source :
Brandt Guide to Benin
"Today we paid a visit to one of the more touristic centers of Benin – Abomey. Before reaching the city with its lines of palaces and commonly-visited sites, though, we got to a chance to tour something much less well-known.
Due to some awesome connections that one of our fellow volunteers has, we got to visit a voodoo temple shaped like a chameleon. It’s huge! It's been under construction for the past 6 years, and although there is still much to be completed within it, it looks pretty remarkable. I mean, who doesn’t think walking into the mouth of a chameleon to get into a temple is cool?!
The temple is a private project being financed by a voodoo priest who resides on the outskirts of Bohicon. Its purpose is not to serve as a tourist attraction, but as a place for followers of the Tohouiyo divinity to worship. I'm not too well versed in the theology of all the different deities and spirits within Voodoo, but I can tell you that there are many. Voodoo is a polytheistic religion, and one may find a spirit involved in just about anything.
We had the chance to talk with the voodoo priest who was financing the temple, and he told us that many people claim that different religions – Christianity, Islam, etc. – are all different things. He said that when one understands Voodoo, however, they understand that they are all the same. Everything is a part of Voodoo. For example, he said that the God that one worships in Christianity is also one of the Gods worshipped in Voodoo.
This statement matches up almost to a tee with what I’ve heard when discussing voodoo with other Beninese people as well."
"A voodoo temple shaped like a chameleon. Chameleons
are said to be symbolic of god on earth to most
divinities of voodoo."
Source :
BikeBenin blog
Rationale for this proposal
Benin is the birthplace of the Vodun religion, and this temple is an outstanding architectural object. I think it would create a very nice stamp design if adopted.
The Brandt Guide to Benin has an excellent introduction to this ancient religion, and is recommended reading.
Thank you for your comments and support.
Attachments :
* façade
* partial façade and left side view
* the rear and side of the building
* front temple entrance with people for scale reference
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Yann2
Support new Location stamps for underserved Countries?
Dear Slowly friends,
Some of us stamp collectors decided to try to
get Location stamps
- for the many countries which still did not have ANY so far
. Many of us feel that is important, and fair with the Slowly users who live in these countries.Please check this
Reddit topic
, and see a list of currently active proposals. If you think this idea has merit, your support would be very appreciated
.An upvote, a comment in a topic are always welcome, and help ideas become reality. There are more than 25 proposals so far, and some are even in the
IN PROGRESS
stage now!I also wrote a detailed Blog post about
creating nice and successful proposals
for the Slowly Suggestions site. It could help you spruce up your own ideas and presentations here? Thank you !