Gnaoua music - Khamlia Merzouga - Sahara Morocco

#Gnaoua music - #Khamlia #Merzouga - Sahara desert Morocco
Read full Article here: www.hypermoroccotours.com/2019/11/gnaoua-khamlia-merzouga-sahara-desert.html -
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MagicalMorocco/
Khamlia is a village in the southeastern part of Morocco, 7km south of the famous village called Merzouga in the province of Errachidia. It has a population of about 405 from Gnaoua and Berber (Amazigh) ethnic origin. Khamlia is located exactly at the foot of Erg Chebbi dunes, doors to the great Sahara desert.
Khamlia's people also named "gnaouas" originated in black Africa, they have a close and long standing relationship with the desert, their encestors were brought from central and west Africa, through the Sahara desert in caravans that arrived to the southeastern part of Morocco.
After their emancipation, they survived as nomads moving regularly in search of favorable land for their herds. Around the 50s and 60s they started to settle down with the Berber nomads in towns or in the growing urban areas. That is the way Khamlia was founded. Since then the main sources of income are agriculture, livestock farming and lately also tourism.
The village annual music festival is called "Sadaka" (religious charity), and it occurs during three days every July or August. In the weeks preceding the festival, the Gnaouas ask their neighbors, the berbers and other nearby villages for donations (in the form of sygar, tea, food, or money).
The first day a lamb is sacrificed and the collected donations are used to prepare a huge couscous for all the attendees.
Music s played non-stop night a,d day for three days. people in Khamlia believe that the sadaka is meant to cure the sick people a,d to gain 'Baraka' (god's blessings) through music and dance.
Some people can enter a state of transitory trance, thanks to the incessant rhythm of the drums and the chants.. It is a spiritual experience that is also practiced in other parts of Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean.

Category : Morocco Music Videos

#gnaoua#music#khamlia#merzouga#sahara#morocco