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| relatedto = [[Filseta]]
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'''Ashenda''' (Amharic: አሸንዳ ; [[Romanization|romanized]]: äšänəda) is an annual girls’ festival celebrated in [[Ethiopia]]. The festival commences after two weeks of Filseta. During [[Filseta]], people [[Fasting and abstinence in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|fast]] throughout the day. Both Filseta and Ashenda honor [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary, Mother of God]].
The first written mention of “Ashenda” is found in an Amharic book from 1910, authored by [[Alaqa Taye Gabra Mariam|Aleqa Taye]] and [[Eugen Mittwoch]] [https://books.google.ca/books/about/Abessinische_kinderspiele.html?id=WbIsAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y <nowiki>[1]</nowiki>]'''.''' The Ethiopian co-author was born in [[Gondar]] of the Amhara region, where he had observed Ashenda celebrations since he was young [https://journals.scholarsportal.info/browse/03900096/v25inone <nowiki>[2]</nowiki>]. Taye is considered by many to be the first Ethiopian [[Ethnomusicology|ethnomusicologist]] [https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2433/108286 <nowiki>[3]</nowiki>].
Although Ashenda originated with the [[Amhara people]], whom Dr. Jack Fellman described as “Abyssinian par excellence,”[https://www.jstor.org/stable/30027296?seq=1 <nowiki>[4]</nowiki>] today it is also celebrated by [[Gurage people|Gurages]] [https://gishabayethiopiatour.com/gurage-ethiopia/ <nowiki>[5]</nowiki>] and Tigrayans [https://aiganews.com/archives/1532 <nowiki>[6]</nowiki>].
In the past, Tigrinya-speakers in both Ethiopia and Eritrea traditionally observed a pagan ritual known as “Ayni Wari” (Tigrinya: ዓይኒ ዋሪ), meaning "Eye of the Blackbird" [https://www.geezexperience.com/?dr=1&searchkey=ዓይኒ <nowiki>[7]</nowiki>] [https://www.geezexperience.com/?dr=1&searchkey=ዋሪ <nowiki>[8]</nowiki>] [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334836277_The_Art_Aesthetics_and_Gender_Significance_of_Ashenda_girls'_Festival_in_Tigray_Northern_Ethiopia <nowiki>[9]</nowiki>]. Due to the crackdown on paganism by Italians during their colonization of Eritrea, Kebessa were forced to abandon this tradition [https://books.google.ca/books?id=u3yQzwEACAAJ&printsec=copyright&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false <nowiki>[10]</nowiki>]. Safe from the yoke of colonialism in Ethiopia, Tigrayans continued to observe Ayni Wari for most of the 20th century, only abandoning and replacing it with Ashenda in recent decades.
While Gurages and Tigrayans deny that Ashenda is foreign to them, there is no evidence that could suggest either of these communities has been celebrating it beyond 20 or 30 years.
Scholars are in agreement that after the fall of [[Kingdom of Aksum|Axum]], the kingdom’s ruling class migrated south to Amhara [https://books.google.ca/books/about/Native_Peoples_of_the_World.html?id=vf4TBwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y <nowiki>[11]</nowiki>]. The Royal Chronicle of [[Gebre Meskel Lalibela|Lalibela]], which described Amhara families being brought from the north and settled in the south, lends credence to this belief [https://search.worldcat.org/title/Ancient-and-medieval-Ethiopian-history-to-1270/oclc/868317 <nowiki>[12]</nowiki>]. For this reason, some historians trace the origin of Ashenda to [[Lasta]] or [[Begemder|Begemeder]] [https://books.google.ca/books/about/Kesat%C4%93_birhan_tesema.html?id=57QdtwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y <nowiki>[13]</nowiki>], also found in Amhara.
Coupled with the Amhara people’s political, religious, social, and cultural dominance over other Ethiopian communities throughout history, many regard this as suggestive of Ashenda’s Amhara origin.
== Celebration ==
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Leading up to Ashenda, women and girls will prepare to adorn themselves with jewelry, dresses, henna, and diverse cultural hairstyles. They typically wear white cotton dresses, which have colorful [[embroidery]], called ''tilfi'' in Amharic [https://books.google.ca/books/about/Amharic_English_dictionary.html?id=H6tnix8o0mwC&redir_esc=y <nowiki>[14]</nowiki>]. They also wear a lot of jewelry. They [[Weaving|weave]] ashenda grass into a bunch and wear it on their backs or as a skirt. Girls often wear five [[cornrows]] in their hair, as well as [[Kohl (cosmetics)|Kohl]] eyeliner.
On the first day of the festival, girls gather together and make the journey to their local Church of St. Mary (or any other [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] in the community), singing, playing music, and dancing along the way. They then go around the entire village, expressing their thanks to each household in the community. The Ashenda girls spend around 20 minutes at each house, entertaining families and themselves, before being bid farewell. After the door-to-door celebrations, the girls find a suitable field in or near the village, stopping to dance and play as they pass by.
The Ashenda festival is intended for women only. However, in the Amhara region, men may play the role of gift-givers, offering the ladies food, clothes, and other presents. Elsewhere, such as in the Tigray region, fathers may choose to accompany their daughters to protect them against endemic sexual assault and harassment [https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Responding-to-the-Impact-of-HIV-in-Tigray%2C-North-Atakelti-Asmelash/4cfcead6d7cd9ab51760f151296204cd6c7fb48e <nowiki>[15]</nowiki>].
== Name ==
Ashenda, in the [[Amharic]] language, describes not only the festival by the same name but also the grass worn and the flowers exchanged by the ladies during festivities [https://books.google.ca/books/about/Amharic_English_dictionary.html?id=H6tnix8o0mwC&redir_esc=y <nowiki>[16]</nowiki>].
Owing to dialectical differences, Ashenda may go under the name “Ashendeya” in some parts of the Amhara region. One may also hear “Shadey,” derived from the Amharic word for the seasonal flower “Adey” [https://www.mereb.shop/rs/?prodet=true&pid=32862875&vid=49 <nowiki>[17]</nowiki>].
“Solel” is a song commonly sung during Ashenda. Engicha nekela describes the process of picking Ashenda grass to wear atop one’s skirt. While part and parcel of it, these are not to be confused with the festival itself.
== See also ==
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