Traditional horsemen arrive in full regalia to display their art.

Traditional horsemen arrive in full regalia to display their art.

A festivity is held to honor a group of visitors who have an appointment with the chief.

Horsemen showing their skills on the main square in front of the festival tent.

Horsemen riding up to the festival tent.

The hilly countryside around Mthatha is traditional Xhosa land.

Next to spectators and horsemen, also the Scouts take part in the festivity

Villagers are excited about the festivity.

Festivity in Mthatha, before the ritual starts there are horse races.

Spectators getting excited.

Sangomas are the keepers of identity, maintaining the survival and presence of indigenous music, songs and traditions of the communities. Dalibandla - Sangomas and Traditional Horsemen of Mthatha

One of the traditional horsemen; he is also a healer.

The sangomas prepare for the ritual by chanting traditional music.

Sangoma in Mthata,South Africa wearing her traditional dress and facial ornament.

Excited spectators

The villagers trying to get into the tent to take part in the ritual.

The rhythm of the drums plays a vital role in their ritual dances.

Sangomas are healers, the respected guardians of knowledge and traditional medicine in Xhosa culture.

Their role is that of physician, counsellor, psychiatrist and priest, and people visit a traditional healer for problems ranging from social dilemmas to major medical illnesses.

Sangomas perform a holistic and symbolic form of healing by drawing on the embedded belief that ancestral spirits guide the living.

Sangomas are called to heal illnesses, social disharmony and spiritual difficulties.

Central in the ngoma religion is the shared belief in the power of the ancestors over life.

The Sangomas not only represent the knowledge of the community but act as guides helping to maintain the balance between nature, man and the spiritual world.

Sangomas have played a central role in many African cultures dating back many centuries.

Spectator with a protective facial paint.

Sangomas form the link between the living and the forebears, acting as the spirit mediums between this world and the next.

Villagers sharing the ritual. Although many Xhosa are Christian, they also believe in their indigenous African religion.

Complex rituals are part of festivities in Xhosa communities; the ancestors are called in ceremonial dancing, drumming and chanting.

Both men and women can become traditional healers.

Sangomas, traditional healers, hold an esteemed and powerful position in southern African societies.

In their dances, they narrate the history, cosmology, and myths of their people.

Authorities in the channeling of ancestral powers, Sangomas can summon the spirits for symbolical treatment. They dance themselves into a trance.

The spirits will possess the Sangomas when they work themselves into a trance, accompanied by the rhythm of the drums and the echoing of songs.

In a society in process of modernisation, these rituals and beliefs activate and balance the deep desire for spirituality, for the recognition of identity in the community.

Dancing in traditional wear.

The chief of Mthata is greeted with a traditional invocation "Ah Dalibandla" while the Sangomas are in full trance.