All Roads Lead To Great Zimbabwe

 

Come together all the totems of the Dzimbabwe land

Gather at the Great Zimbabwe the city of Tovera

It is time for the Biraguru, the Great Dance

Praise the God Mwari with song and dance

Praise your ancestor Tovera with poetry.

It is the time after the harvest

Now it is time to rest

Now it is time to feast

Slaughter your fattest beasts

Play drums, the mbira, the marimba and clap your hands.

The people have their totems on garments and flags

And every clan sings and brags

About how their totem is the greatest

The Lion, the Impala, the Hearts, the Elephant and all the rest

They sing and dance in turn to show who is the best.

The rich and the poor, the old and the young

The mother, the father, the daughter and the son,

Celebrate the Biraguru ceremony together as one.

The Mambo king listens to the songs and eyes the dance

And gives a prize to the best performance from among the totem clans.

Enter the Great Enclosure and go to Tovera’s grave

Under the Conical Tower his remains will be found

Be respectful and do not misbehave

Walk barefoot, for it is sacred ground

Pray for blessings and forgiveness at the Conical Tower

Pray through the ancestors and appeal to God’s power.

Then leave the Enclosure and join your peers

Sing, dance, eat meat and drink beer.

When you see the Mambo king you must cheer

But you’ll get burnt if you get too near

Don’t turn your back on him, don’t show him your rear

In his right hand the Mambo king holds an ivory sceptre

On his head the king wears an ivory crown

He sits on an ivory throne.

The Mambo King wears a white robe,  

The Mambo Queen wears a black robe, 

Both King and Queen walk barefoot.

All the chiefs swear allegiance to the Mambo king

And show their loyalty to him by the tribute that they bring.

Then all the people pray to the God Mwari, the creator

They pray to God through their ancestors 

Their forebears in the spirit realm are their intercessors.

They thank Mwari for the rains, harvests and their good health

And ask Mwari to bless the Shona nation with prosperity and wealth.

Then the crowd sings

While they play ngoma and hosho, mbira instruments

‘Mambo king you are the descendant of Tovera

You are the son of Munhumutapa Nyatsimba Mutota

You walk on salt on your way to your ivory throne

From Zambezi to Limpopo the Dzimbabwe land is your realm.

The Shona are your people,

Mwari is our god,

The ngoma drum is a symbol of our nation.

Your stare makes your enemies tremble,

You cannot tell a lie,

You punish the guilty,

You are a father to the orphans,

You are a teacher to the foolish,

You protect the innocent,

You feed the hungry,

Without you there is chaos,

You are the elephant, the king of all the animals

Raise your trunk and trumpet!’

The Mambo takes the sacred book the Tsumos and reads 

from its pages  

Therein lies the wise sayings of the sages of past ages

The King and his people know all the proverbs by heart

And can recite every part of the book from the start.

In the Tsumos book there are fables about the totem animals such as the lion and the monkey

And other beasts like the hyena and the donkey.

The Mambo imparts wisdom to a silent crowd

As the King speaks loud no one will make a sound

Then after the Mambo has spoken, he will rest

And the people will continue to feast until the sun sinks into the horizon in the west.

The people head back to home with anticipation

Of next year’s feast at the Great Zimbabwe Biraguru celebration.