Any one who visits the city of Keren (which means mountain in one of the local languages) the first thing he would repeatedly hear being mentioned is ‘Dearit’ and specially the Baobab tree. Mariam Dearit for Keren is more or less like Eiffel Tower is for Paris or the Great Wall for Beijing or the Colosseum for Rome or the Statue of Liberty for New York…
Driving about two kilometers north east of the city, crossing the Italians’ cemetery, you reach a green area located on a river bank covered by big trees of different types but mainly mim. Looking straight forward, when you reach the gate, you see a huge tree most of the time with a number of visitors.
The Baobab Tree! That is the most interesting part of the story of Mariam Dearit.
A writer, trying to describe this giant tree once wrote: “If there was a leader of the trees of the Savannah, it would be the great Baobab tree; in most parts of Africa, this is the social center. If in America, the Baobab tree would be called ‘Capitol Hill’ for under its shades, social issues are discussed, negotiations are carried-out and pacts made. The great tree is so stubborn. Like a camel, its trunks, which can grow to be 15 meters in diameter, act like a sponge and stores a huge volume of water…”
The Tree is believed to have lived for over 500 years majestically standing about 23 meters high. According to people who lived there for long time, Kerenians are attached to the tree that symbolizes patience, perseverance and strength that defies nature. At times of hardship, and all the time, believers go there to pray and ask their Mary for mercy.
It is the symbol of their strength: it gets thirst but never dies. “It ages but never gets old. It stands majestically competing against the mountains of Ziban, Lalmba, Senkil and Et’Aber that surround the city from where it derived its name.” It is one of the most visited places of the city by both local and foreign visitors, according to the Ministry of Tourism Anseba Region Branch office’s report.
Tourists, or any visitors for that matter, that come to Eritrea during the month of May get to experience the fervent celebrations that Eritreans hold to commemorate their independence anniversary (May 24). Just a few days later, On May 29 each year, there is a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Mariam Dearit.
The sacred place shelters the statue of the Virgin Mary that has its residence inside the trunk of an ancient baobab tree, standing over 20 meters, out in an open field.
It is believed that in 1869, a group of French nuns known as ‘deqi feqri (Daughters of Charity) opened an orphanage in the Keren area where they were granted by a French priest a piece of land to grow orchards. According to legend, one of the nuns, Catherine Labure, dreamt that they established ‘a statue of Virgin Mary’. Then the sisters received a bronze statue from French Lazarists. The nuns located a huge Baobab tree and curved in its trunk a shrine, where they set the statue. The orchards that the sisters planted still stand.
The legend also says that the statue is black in color because the French Lazarists told the nuns that they would send them black colored statues of Mary that looks like them [the residents].
On top of the powers of healing that it’s supposed to have, the statue is also believed to mark the spot from which fertility springs. Legend has it that local women brew coffee in the shade of the tree and believe they would be blessed with fertility-wise if a passing traveler accepts a cup.
The Italian styled city of Keren was a strategic importance at different periods: for instance, the Second World War in East Africa came to an end following a long war among the British and Italian forces when the Italians, who had a strong military base, lost the battle of Keren at Tenkuluhas; and the city also faced major battles at different times of the war for Eritrea’s liberation.
During the Second World War, for example, a group of Italian soldiers, who were under attack by British war planes, sought refuge inside the shrine to avoid bombing. Suddenly, a bomb struck the trunk of the Baobab tree and landed among the soldiers. In 1941 Italian soldiers took refuge in the tree from British Planes. This tree was hit but the Italians and the shrine survived.
Since the planes had targeted the area, a bomb splinter hit the tree making a big whole which can still be witnessed on the sides of the trunk. The tree survived the war, saved the lives of many soldiers and many believers who took refugee.
On the spiritual side, May 29 is just like all religious pilgrimages (Nighdet); the day is a colorful event in which tens of thousands visitors join the pilgrimage. With a procession led by the clergy in their vibrant attires, complete with incense and hymns, followed by flocks of the faithful and other visitors.
Apart from the religious side, the holy festival also evokes nationalistic features; a travel website, www.Traveladventures. org, has put the shrine of Mariam Dearit as one of the 100 must-see sites of the world.
“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is a holy ground,” the notice reads.
Sources: www.shaebia.org
