Some may ask what is Dipo?
Dipo is therefore a puberty rites of passage for female teenagers into womanhood among the Krobo people in the Eastern part of Ghana. Rites of passages are rituals made by life cycles used to show life transistion.
This traditional culture is celebrated among the people of Odumase Krobo in the Eastern region of Ghana. The festival is celebrated in April month every year. The girls walk in the community half naked.
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Again one major importance of Dipo festival is to unify the teenage females in their social role and practicing the arts of the Krobo people. The festival is used to usher into puberty, girls who are virgins only. It signifies that a lady, who partakes in the Dipo festival, is of age to be married as a wife.
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Moreover Dipo is celebrated within a week, On the first day of the rites the girls heads are shaved and dressed with clothes covering their waist to the legs. This is art is done by a special ritual mother, It signifies transition from childhood to adulthood. After all these the girls are assembled before the entire community. The next morning of the festival the chief priest gives the girls a spiritual bath and pours libation to ask for blessings and protection to each of the girls, The chief priest therefore washes their feet with the blood of goat their parents brought. This art is done to drive away spirit of bareness.
One of the crucial part of the festival is when the girls sit the sacred stone to prove their virginity. If any of this girls is found pregnant or not a virgin she faces the penalty of the festival which is to be detested by the entire community and does not qualify to marry a man from the tribe.
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Conclusively, The girls are then housed for a week to be thought how to cook, child birth and nurture, Keeping of the house and many more. They also learn the traditional dace which is called the Klama Dance , This dance is performed during the final day of the rites. After been trained for one week the girls are released into the community to celebrate their transition. They dress in their nice Kente clothes with beads around their arms, legs, waist and neck. At this moment any man who is interested in one of the girls can start his investigations from her family member and ask her hand in marriage. It has been notice that partaking in this rite brings honor and respect to you the person and you family members as a whole. One main reason is to educate women before stepping into marriage.
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