The jilted mythical ‘Garden of Eden’ of the Gikuyu tribe
For ages, Mukuruwe Wa Nyagathanga tucked inside Gakuyu Village in Murang’a County, believed to be the cradle of the Kikuyu community had been an enshrined monument held in high regard.
The shrine used to be a beehive of activities with elders from the region holding prayers and other cultural rituals here.
But today things are different. The place looks deserted and its structures are getting dilapidated.
From the main entrance all the way to the inside of the shrine, the compound looks unkempt and structures covered in mosses.
At the centre of the shrine, there stands two huts believed to have been homes to Gikuyu and Mumbi, the first tribal parents of the community. Their thatched roofs almost collapsing.
Besides them is a big Mukuruwe tree where sacrifices used to be offered to the gods, gives life to the deserted shine.
Few steps away lies an abandoned multi million building established in the 80’s.
The building is said to have been a government’s project meant to serve as hotel, museum and theatre for travellers coming to visit the shrine, but its construction was halted after the elders claimed that it would make the place unclean.
It’s abandonment paved way for the ovals to vandalise the roofing sheets, door and window grills.
Mary Wanjiku, a resident in the area remembers from childhood how throngs of visitors would come to the shrine to pray and offer sacrifices.
“The shrine was held in high regard and it was highly guarded and not everybody would be allowed in,” she says, adding, “Every end of year, a huge, colourful festival to usher in the new year and other events would be held here.”
She says locals would bring out their farm produce and sell to visitors every time there was an occasion and this would give them some money to sustain them for sometime, and the more the events, the better were the tidings.
Not anymore, today, it takes several years to see any events taking place at the shrine.
“If the shrine is revived, it will help boost the economy of this area,” says Wanjiku.
Peter Kamau another resident said the centre would have helped in preservation of the cultural practices of the community.
He, however, says future generations might not have somewhere to learn if no action is taken to preserve the centre.
“Students and even foreigners used to come here to learn about the origin of the kikuyu community and their practices, but that is long gone,” he says.
Several attempts by the government to have the shrine rehabilitated have been marred with conflicts between the community, the national museum and the ministry of culture and national heritage, who claim to be the trustees.
Unending battles in the council of elders have also contributed to the mismanagement of the shrine.
Edward Maina, the county executive member for tourism and culture says the infighting among elders hinders any plans to give the shrine a face lift.
Two years ago the county signed a pact with Kenyatta University to oversee and renovate the centre and make it a modern cultural centre while retaining the indigenous details.
