2018年10月1日 · Kenya’s Mijikenda indigenous people have long revered and protected the forests surrounding their ancestral homesteads, known as kayas, which dot the country’s southeastern coast. Today, the 45 kayas and their surrounding forests face many threats.

A kaya (plural makaya or kayas) is a sacred site of the Mijikenda people in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Often located within sacred forests, a kaya is considered to be an intrinsic source of ritual power and the origin of cultural identity; [1][2] it is also a place of prayer for members of the Mijikenda ethnic group. [3] .

2004年8月1日 · Along the southern coast of Kenya, the sacred kaya forests of the Mijikenda tribes are a living legacy of the people’s history, culture and religion. For centuries, these once-extensive lowland forests shielded the homesteads, called “kaya,” of the Mijikenda from invading tribes and served as burial grounds and places of sacred ritual and ...

The Mijikenda Kaya Forests consist of 10 separate forest sites spread over some 200 km along the coast containing the remains of numerous fortified villages, known as kayas, of the Mijikenda people. The kayas, created as of the 16th century but abandoned by the 1940s, are now regarded as the abodes of ancestors and are revered as sacred sites ...

The sacred Kaya Forests are situated on the coastal plains and hills of Kenya, East Africa. They are residual patches (from ten to two hundred hectares) of once-extensive diverse lowland forest of

Kaya means homestead in the Mijikenda language. Historically, these forest patches sheltered small fortified villages (Kayas) which were set up by the Mijikenda people when they first appeared in the region many centuries ago after fleeing their enemies in the north.

Belonging to the Mijikenda people of Kenyan coastal region, the Sacred Kaya Forests consist of 10 separate forest sites spread over some 200 km along the coast containing the remains of numerous fortified villages, known as kayas. The Kayas were established around the 16th century but abandoned in the early 20th century.

Kaia Homestead offers air-conditioned rooms in Sodwana Bay. This property offers access to a terrace and free private parking. The villa provides garden views, an outdoor fireplace, and a 24-hour front desk.

Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, each Mijikenda group lived together in or near its own kaya. Each kaya was located in a cleared, circular glade on a hilltop, surrounded by dense forest. At the center of the kaya were the meeting houses of the different clans.

Traditionally, each clan lived in a village called a kaya (homestead) which were believed to be protected by the spirits of the ancestors. These kayas were located deep in the forests and it was considered taboo to cut the trees and vegetation around them.