Njelele Shrine

The Njelele Shrine or Shrine of Mabweadziva is a cave which is of significant spiritual importance in Zimbabwe; pilgrims visit it annually for ritual purposes prior to the beginning of the rain season. The shrine is inside a cave that is located in the Matobo Hills (which is a world heritage center) in the Khomola communal area approximately 100 kilometres south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city. Vendas used to take the black cow once a year to Matopo (Matovha) in appropriations of the rain. The process was stopped by the White's administration when movements of animals across the Limpopo (Vhembe) river was banned. The shrine is found in a solid granite kopje which is not different from a plethora of others that are in the vicinity. The outthrust of this shrine is situated on a mountain range that runs westwards. The shrine has "three naturally hidden entrances that wind up and down among overhang granite boulders." The cave is not the main feature of Njelele but the gallery in the rocks. It is also endowed with a number of small tunnels, which lead to the shrine's various chambers from the narrow entrance which is between two tall rocks. Njelele is mainly known as the rain-making shrine however, it is visited for other purposes such as asking for forgiveness after society's wrongdoings, asking for cures for human and domesticated animals diseases. An assortment of

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).