page_title: Odinani
section_title: Mbari
hierarchical_section_title: Odinani / Practices / Architecture / Mbari
caption_attribution_description: English: Fig 3. this is of interest as it shows the manner of dressing the back hair. Many of the women plait in false hair, which is collected by the prospective husband on betrothal. He not only contributes his own hair, but also purchases more to make up the required quantity, since the marriage may not be consummated until the hair is dressed in the approved manner, viz., low down on the neck as shown, or in two long braids. (p.163)
context_page_description: Odinala comprises the traditional religious practices and cultural beliefs of the Igbo people of southern Nigeria. Odinani has monotheistic and panentheistic attributes, having a single God as the source of all things. Although a pantheon of spirits exists, these are lesser spirits prevalent in Odinani expressly serving as elements of Chineke, the supreme being or high God. Chineke is a compound word encompassing the concept of chí is the creator is a verb meaning 'that' while ékè means create. Chineke therefore means the Creator or the God that created all things. The concept of Chúkwú was largely propagated by the Aro-Igbo of Arochukwu in eastern Igboland who wielded much spiritual force over the eastern Niger Delta in the 18th century due to their operating of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle.
  Lesser spirits known as ágbàrà or álúsí operate below the high God Chineke and are each a part of Chineke divided by gender in their mind. These spirits represent natural forces; agbara as a divine force manifests as separate alusi in the Igbo pantheon.
context_section_description: Among a small area of the Urata-Igbo cultural area, near Owerri, there is a tradition of building votive monument houses called ḿbàrí primarily dedicated to the ágbàrà Àlà specific to the community and sometimes other community deities. The name joins the word ḿbà ('nation, town, society') + rí ('eat') in reference to the 'festival of life' held after its completion. These votive shrines are typically designed with four columns and a central volt, around the columns are modelled deities, spirits, and depictions of human life, the entire building built out of clay from termite mounds symbolically named jí ('yam') by the initiated spirit workers called ńdí m̀gbè. Ndi mgbe are secluded from the community for a couple of months during the rites of building the mbari to a deity. Mbari are requested by a deity who the diviner tells the community feels neglected and cannot feel pride in the face of other deities in the spirit world. A string of unusual and unfortunate events befalling the community is linked to the aggrieved deity. An mbari is commissioned and artists are chosen. After the completion of the mbari the spirit workers are reincorporated into the community and a feast is held for the opening of the mbari house where elders and the community come to exhibit the critique the expensive mbari. The mbari house is not a source of worship and is left to dilapidate, being reabsorbed by nature in symbolic sense related to Ala.
caption: Scene in an mbari house, 1904.
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