Ambohimanga: Historic and Sacred

On Saturday, February 7th, we visited Ambohimanga. It's a little more than an hour drive from where we live in Tana but is actually much nearer to our home than it seems. There just isn't a road that goes directly there (such is life in Madagascar!) and walking through the rice paddies didn't seem feasible! Ambohimanga literally means "blue hill" and is a large hill which was home to King Andrianapoinimerina's palace (the first king in Madagascar). His palace (a very high one room house) is still there along with a later Queen's summer dwelling. Ambohimanga is also a sacred place for ancestral worship for the Malagasy. There is a large stone set aside specifically for the sacrificing of zebu cattle. Sacrifices still occur to this day. Near the place where I am sitting above, we were surprised to see blood stains and candle wax from a recent sacrifice. It's an incredible place of history (one of the few that remains mostly intact) for the Malagasy but also a place of great spiritual darkness. It reminded us that animism is still so present in this place and how badly the Malagasy need to hear the Gospel truth.

L to R, top to bottom: Sarah posing with a monument outside the main entrance of Ambohimanga; a typical Merina tomb in the countryside on our drive; Daniel standing in the "servant entrance" of the palace compound; Sarah on a cliff overlooking the countryside where some sacrifices take place; Daniel looking at a Malagasy man's "collection" of currency and trying to decide if he's supposed to be bargaining to take some home; and finally Daniel on the same cliff with the view!