Kalaafaanu Memorial – Cultural regeneration of Hangnaameedhoo
“Until recently Maldivians did not celebrate their birthdays, but laid elaborate feasts on the death of anniversaries of their ancestors. Maldivians were careful in erecting tombstones over their lost relatives, to preserve the date of their death, the anniversary of which is observed by almsgiving and prayer on the part of the surviving members of the family.”
Nazim Sattar, “Remembering the Past… with appropriate food”, Maldives Finder, 2012
Background:
Hangnaameedhoo in Alif Alif atoll, Maldives, is where King Kalaafaan, known in our history as the ‘slain king’ lies. He was escaping from invaders who came from Malabar, India. After the Malabars killed the king they looted his cargo and abandoned the vessel which drifted to Hangnameedhoo. The people of the island discovered the vessel with the bodies of the king and Jamal Kaloa and buried them most honourably at the island mosque. That was in February 1609.
Four centuries later, in 2008, the Kalaafaanu Manuscripts were discovered at the President’s Office. That was right after Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. The documents would show that the tomb of the king was much revered by all and that the tomb was looked after by the decrees laid out in them. The people of Hangnaameedhoo had celebrated the death of King Kalaafaanu every year, with food and prayers recited by the community until such celebrations were deemed taboo somewhere in late 1900s.
The new administration in 2009 decided that copies of the discovered manuscripts, with explanatory texts, will be displayed in the island of Hangnaameedhoo, in the area of land next to the location of Kalaafaan’s Tomb.
Proposal – The Kalaafaanu Memorial
Kalaafaan’s death was historically marked in the island as a vibrant festival – a necessary space for cultural and economic exchange. Mooinc in 2009 designed the following proposal for the creation of the Kalaafaanu Memorial – a festival space that would revive the traditional, cultural and economic activities based around the Kalaafaanu tomb in Hangnaameedhoo.
Site photos:
The Kalaafaan Memorial site would consist of:
- A gallery for the manuscripts (fai kolhu)
- A cultural haruge complex with temporary exhibition space, a cafe, memorial boutique office, changing facilities
- Craft pavilions
- A ceremonial axis with flag placement during the festival
Post note:
There was a government change in Maldives in February 2012 and the proposed plan was abandoned by the new administration.
This video on facebook of Hangnaameedhoo eid fesitval 2017 gives us the impression that the people of Hangnaameedhoo remained ceremonially festive people, as were historically recorded in the Kalaafaanu Manuscripts.
https://www.facebook.com/HuS3yNuBe/videos/10210611083419524/