Posted on February 28, 2012

Shembe Walk. Photograph credit: Musa Hlatshwayo

Shembe Walk. Photograph credit: Musa Hlatshwayo

As part of their religious practices, the Nazareth Baptist Church visits the Holy Mountain of Nhlangakazi to congregate at the mountain for 14 days every year at the beginning, if not middle, of January. Due to certain circumstances most of the time the number of the proposed 14 days is affected, making the pilgrimage a much shorter experience. This year this pilgrimage was scheduled to take place from the 2nd of January and last until the end of the second week of January, the 14th. Because of some of the issues that the church is currently dealing with, some of the leaders of the church and their respective members were unable to attend.

Nhlangakazi is located in Ndwedwe, 30 kilometers North of iNanda where two homesteads or villages of the two Shembe branches are found, i.e. Ekuphakameni which is currently led by iNkosi Vukile Shembe and 'Ebuhleni Village' which is under the leadership of Inkosi Mduduzi 'Nyaz'lwezulu' Shembe. The Nhlangakazi pilgrimage forms part of the 1st and the bigger of the two Holy Communions celebrated by the congregation each year. The second communion is usually held in July at the branches' respective homestead or village. A descriptive first-hand experience of Ebuhleni's latest July celebrations can be accessed via the following link. http://www.archivalplatform.org/blog/entry/the_majestic/

The Nhlangakazi pilgrimage is the pinnacle of the congregation's quest for spiritual uplifment. It is estimated to draw about 2 million pilgrims who cover a distance of approximately 58km walking barefoot over a period of 3 days to the mountain and 2 days back. The followers of the Nazareth Baptist Church are all required to dress in their traditional white garments designed according to the requirements of their stage or level within the church when taking part in this pilgrimage. This pilgrimage is said to be based on the third book of Moses – the biblical leader. It is said to date back to a revelation iNkosi Shembe of amaNazaretha experienced in 1916, where it was revealed upon him that God would only speak to him at the Holy Mountain Nhlangakazi, just as He had spoken to Moses on Mount Sinai.

It is said that the late founder of the Shembe movement, Isaiah Shembe, was alone on a hillside when he was struck down by lightning where the voice of the Lord ordered him to 'Go south!' Isaiah Shembe was carried unconscious to his hut paralysed and taken for dead. On waking up he then told his followers that he had been among spirits who had instructed him to go south. It was then that he took his Bible, a blanket, a rod as well as gifts from his followers and engaged on a pilgrimage to the South. That was the birth of the Nhlangakazi pilgrimage.

At the beginning of the pilgrimage the millions of Shembe followers gather to participate in a hypnotic experience of spiritual praise through song, movement and dance. Each hymn has its own specific choreography that then becomes the driving rhythm to the pace of the hypnotic sounds and movements, with the leadership of the church and men leading the way. This male procession is then followed by married women carrying furled umbrellas and tiny ceremonial shields as part of their traditional ceremonial attire within the church.

Young maidens in their own full attire then follow them. This constant meandering stream of vehicles and barefooted worshippers snakes along the dusty road to the holy site - Nhlangakazi, the 'Mecca' of the Shembe church. On reaching the site, the peak of the mountain, the church's activities are all programmed around prayer meetings, sermons, teachings, celebrations through song and dance and many other activities beneficial to the experience of a congregation's spiritual upliftment programme in typical Shembe style.

Communion, communication and the modern day technology

While Saturday or Sabbath sermons and the many other gatherings serve as a platform for information, planning and communicating messages to the church, the church also relies mostly on the effectiveness of the media as well as modern-day technology to spread their messages to the followers of the church. While the church's spokespeople are constantly in touch with the many forms of media, there are also other interactive social networks solutions that have been established as a means of enhancing communication and education about the church. These also serve as a platform for those wanting to share their experiences and those that simply want cyber communion with their fellow church members across the world. The following are some of the groups that can be accessed as a useful platform in this regard.

Imbizo YamaNazaretha
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Imbizo-yamaNazaretha/290991234247882

Abantwana bakaNkulunkulu
http://www.facebook.com/groups/339003499445842/

'Imbizo yamaNazaretha', is also a radio programme that readers may tune into to listen to Sizwe Makhanya on Inanda 88.4fm on air Saturdays 5am-6am. This channel is said to cater for people of the Shembe religion, Nazareth Baptist Church, eBuhleni. They play Shembe hymns, invite guests from the Church, answer any questions that anyone might have about the church itself, its religion as well as its pilgrimages, and do a lot more.

While some might argue that 'Mecca' best describes the Holy Mountain of Nhlangakazi others might argue that 'Canaan' would be a better approximation for Nhlangakazi thus leaving Mecca best suited for Ekuphakameni and Ebuhleni. Ekuphakameni is said to be the place where the Nazareth Baptist Church's holiest shrines are found with most of the infrastructure having been erected by iNkosi Shembe himself. Ebuhleni was then created as a homestead for the second group after the church split due to internal conflicts. With the church having split into two branches because of internal conflicts, the Nazareth Baptist Church might now be acknowledged as a congregation made of up Ekuphakameni as well as Ebuhleni but Nhlangakazi still remains celebrated as the pilgrimage that unites both these branches on the same quest for their spiritual upliftment.

Whether both branches will continue their peaceful pilgrimages (simultaneously) in Nhlangakazi united by the common goal - the quest of spiritual upliftment – is one of the many issues that the church seems to be strategically dealing with in a civil manner. Despite all, Nhlangakazi in its physical, historical and spiritual experience still remains the pinnacle of this church's spiritual revival.

Musa Hlatshwayo is an Archival Platform correspondent