Sunday, September 07, 2008

Those Bare-Breasted Virgins in Swaziland?

These ones:-

...tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins converged on the royal court of the tiny mountainous kingdom of Swaziland bearing reeds for the queen mother in a colourful annual ceremony. As many as 60 000 maidens were estimated to have registered for this year's Reed Dance, up from 40 000 in 2007.


Probably the only country which registers a rise in virgins, actually.

Anyway, let's get on with the description:-

Half marching, half-dancing, the girls advanced on the court to bestow on the queen mother the reeds they were sent to cut on a riverbank during the week. The reeds are used in the making of huts and fences. They then returned in their "regiments" to an arena below the royal compound, where the king, clad in a leopard-skin loincloth worn over a wrap skirt and carrying an arrow-shaped axe, was due to dance around them.


Want a picture?



The best I could do. At least they're bare-breasted.


Source

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