Inkanyamba
Ringkasan
Inkanyamba adalah ular raksasa dalam kepercayaan Zulu dan Xhosa yang dianggap dewa tornado, dikaitkan dengan badai dan dipercaya menghuni perairan di Afrika Selatan, terutama kolam Air Terjun Howick.
Inkanyamba is a giant serpent of Zulu and Xhosa belief, regarded as the deity of tornadoes, linked with storms and thought to inhabit waters in South Africa, above all the pool below Howick Falls.
Kisah dan tradisi
Inkanyamba adalah makhluk legendaris dalam cerita rakyat Afrika Selatan. Dalam mitologi Xhosa dan Zulu ia dianggap dewa tornado yang berwujud ular hitam, dan dalam kepercayaan Zulu ia menjadi penyebab tornado sekaligus dewi badai, air, dan hujan es. Makna namanya tidak hanya fenomena cuaca, tetapi juga roh tornado itu sendiri. Kisahnya terpusat di sejumlah perairan, termasuk sistem Sungai Umgeni dan Umkomazi di Provinsi KwaZulu-Natal, dan makhluk ini terutama dikatakan tinggal di kolam Air Terjun Howick. Kisah serupa juga dikumpulkan di sekitar Hogsback, Provinsi Eastern Cape. Ia digambarkan sebagai ular raksasa atau naga berwujud ular yang tubuhnya melilit dari langit sampai bumi; sebuah karya rujukan menjelaskan bahwa tornado memang tampak seperti ular yang menjulur dari langit. Gambaran umum memberinya kepala mirip kuda atau naga, dan suku-suku Zulu setempat menyebutnya ular besar berkepala kuda. Perajin setempat juga membuat patung tanah liat yang menampilkannya sebagai monster berbentuk naga. Ia paling aktif pada musim panas, dan amarahnya dipercaya menimbulkan badai musiman, sedangkan menenangkannya diyakini mendatangkan hujan dan kesuburan. Pada 1962 seorang jagawana bernama Buthelezi mengaku melihat hewan berkepala kuda dan bertubuh ular di Sungai Umgeni, tetapi sebagian pengamat menduga para saksi sebenarnya melihat buaya atau belut raksasa.
The Inkanyamba belongs to the folklore of South Africa. Xhosa and Zulu mythology treat it as the tornado deity in the shape of a black snake, and Zulu belief makes it both the source of tornados and a goddess of storm, water and hail. Its name refers not simply to the weather event but to the spirit of the tornado as well. The tales cluster around several rivers and pools, among them the Umgeni and Umkomazi systems in KwaZulu-Natal Province, and the creature is said above all to live in the pool at Howick Falls. Similar lore has also been gathered near Hogsback in Eastern Cape Province. It is pictured as an enormous snake or snake-like dragon whose coils reach from the sky down to the ground; one reference work explains that a tornado does look like a snake hanging from the heavens. Common depictions give it a head like a horse or a dragon, and local Zulu tribes speak of a large serpent with a horse's head. Local craftspeople have also shaped clay figures showing it as a dragon-like monster. It is busiest during the summer, when its fury is thought to bring the seasonal storms, while calming it is said to bring rain and fertility. In 1962 a game ranger named Buthelezi reported a horse-headed, snake-bodied animal in the Umgeni River, though some commentators think witnesses were really seeing a crocodile or a giant eel.
Konteks budaya
Dalam mitologi Xhosa dan Zulu, Inkanyamba menjadi cara menjelaskan tornado: badai berputar itu dipandang sebagai dewa berwujud ular yang menjulur dari langit ke bumi.
In Xhosa and Zulu mythology the Inkanyamba explains the tornado: the whirling storm is seen as a snake deity reaching from heaven to earth.
Fakta utama
- Budaya / Culture
- Tradisi Zulu
- Kawasan / Region
- Afrika
- Negara / Country
- South Africa
- Klasifikasi / Classification
- Dragon
- Habitat
- Water
- Kemampuan / Abilities
- Mendatangkan badai
Tahukah kamu? / Did you know?
Pada 1962 seorang jagawana bernama Buthelezi mengaku melihat hewan berkepala kuda dan bertubuh ular berjemur di gosong pasir Sungai Umgeni.
In 1962 a game ranger named Buthelezi claimed he saw a horse-headed, serpent-bodied animal sunning itself on a sandbank in the Umgeni River.