ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: For centuries, the Benin kingdom was one of Western Africa's most powerful states. It served as one of the main links between European traders and tribes in the interior. But violence, succession struggles and the end of the slave trade sent the kingdom into decline. Much of it is now part of the nation of Nigeria. But the Benin people still respect the tribal king. Nigeria's Independent Television takes us to a royal festival.</s>BECKY MADOJEMU, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cultural practices of the people are characterized by peculiar traits. These manifest in the festival. The ceremony is a ritual worshipping of the royal head of the king of the Beninese. It is a highly revered, celebrated festival which has attracted international attention over the years. History has it that the ceremony began between 1100 to 1173 A.D. According to legend, as a prince in exile in the forest, Prince Arawi (ph), who later became king, was said to have woken up to discover he was sitting on a boa constrictor. The prince noticed a leopard feeding on his prey whose blood reportedly dripped on the prince's head. He killed the two creatures and anointed his head with the blood to thank God for his safety. This was beginning of the festival, which has become an occasion for the purification of the king physically and spiritually. The dance with the sword by the palace chiefs is both mystical and ceremonial. The king's dance is peculiar as against that of the chiefs. He is dressed in the full, traditional regalia, made of coral beads, a relic of the initial contact with the Portuguese in the 18th century. The Beninese, over the years, have resisted attempts by the Western world to colonize their tradition through the so-called acculturation process. The kingdom four years ago marked the 100 years of the British invasion of the Great Benin Empire, which the kingdom bloodied, but not bowed. This is a tradition that has stood through the test of time. Becky Madojemu, CNN WORLD REPORT.
Benin Dance Recalls West African Tribe's Powerful Heritage