The Aare is an ornamentally embellished sacred and symbolic crown which the Ooni wears once in a year during the Olojo Festival’s cultural procession.
The sacredness and authority of this crown is traced to the first king that ruled the World, called NIMROD by the Hebrews but known as LAMURUDU by the Yorubas and ARAMPHAEL (Ora Ife Onile Ina) by the Arabs.
He is said to have ruled the whole world ruthlessly with the exhibition of the power of the Sun and FIre and without recourse and respect for OLODUMARE, the Almighty God.
Due to Nimrod’s confrontational attitude to the Almighty, God raised Oduduwa, the Deity of prayers (ti oba ina ja, o da ina, o ba oorun ja, o da orun), meaning he fought fire and conquered fire, fought sun and conquered sun.
Oduduwa is called Dua by the Arabs, Adura by the Yorubas and Adua by most ancient tribes of the world. He went on to fight, conquered, subdue and totally eliminated Aramphael who never wore the sacred Aare crown.
Oduduwa was the first to wear the crown that descended to the earth from Oke Ora hills in Ife. You can see this from his statue opposite the palace gate where he wore the crown and a crockrel in one of his hands.
Oduduwa’s mandate is to establish structures and make the world a better place for mankind.
Oodua was the first beaded crown wearing king in the world, thus he established the royal ruling system of governance in the world whilst the beaded crown became an inheritance of Ooni in Ile to n fe, that is Ile-Ife.
Explaining the Components of the Aare
a. Profile – Shape of a full rainbor – Osumare (Osu to mo Aare)
b. Colour – Full colour spectrum of the rainbow
c. Front Piece – 4 Cardinal points – N,S,E,W
d. Front Surround – Symbolises day
e. Black support – Symbolises night
f. Three sections: Trinitarian trials of mankind – morning, afternoon, & night (Every human being undergoes 3 seasons of existence. Igba Aaro, Osan ati Aale)
g. Three Feathers : Made of African Grey Parrot tail feathers – symbolizing clatity of vision – spiritually
h. Brass : Symbolises Longevity
I. Two long Feathers -Symbolizes the creation of the first Man & Woman
J. Colour Beading – Depict the mystery of God
K. Bunched Glass – Creation of the rainbow aesthetic passed on by God – (Yoruba people invented glass beading)
– Osumare (Osu to mo Aare)
L. Inside the Aare – It is forbidden to look inside the Aare Crown as it contains mysterious and undisclosed materials
M. Full Length beads – Symbolizing the veiled mystery of God and Creation.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Funmi Ajala is a visual storyteller, who uses the medium of photography, video, and writing to document travel, culture, festivals, portraits, and everyday people. She is profound for her travel stories and pictures. She documents her stories and pictures at funmiajala.com. She can be reached at Fa@funmiajala.com
