Kanga a Swahili cultural cloth

                                                                         

In most part of Swahili community along the coastal of east Africa is common to come across women wearing Kanga and shops selling the piece of the cloth at a very cheaper price.
These piece of cloth is in two pieces which resemble each other in colour,pattern,fabric and the name tag which is always in Swahili language and will differ with other pieces as it has a message written on it,normal such messages are in a proverbial way of written and sometimes a buyer will request in advance to be printed according to his or her wish.
Kanga has many symbolic way of expressing the culture of coastal people and some are like;
Wedding times whereby there is a special ritual event performed by elders and the husband to be has to identify his wife to be by identify her from a group of two or more women covered with Kangas,if it happens that he failed to identify his partner then there he must pay a fine of either a cow or anything requested by his in laws.

Receiving a newly born baby it is a must use of Kanga and even today in same hospital it is a rule,all newly born babies have to be wrapped by these piece of cloth and they will be using them until there umbilical unattached them,it is when most Swahili cultural people believes that now it is the right moment for the baby to start clothing after these un attachment of the umbilical.

Many women preferred to use Kanga like a wrap around there bodies,as there in two pieces a Swahili woman will wrap one piece as from her west part going downward and another piece on top to cover her head,these is also a sign of respect to the entire community.even when women are in there homestead they will use kanga like apron when there are cooking or doing any house hold activities.

Another is during circumcision whereby young boys a long the coastal will have to use these cloths during these period until their able to wear cloths again.

when there a event or ceremony among the coastal communities it's also common used like for a burial ceremony as a send of as mourners close to the deceased will wear the same type of cloth with message tag on them,the same with wedding,come together and other events in Swahili areas.

Travellers whom visit the coastal of east Africa and the islands within eastern Africa have to adopted to these culture of Kanga,in many beach hotels tourist like to cover themselves with these clothes as there good in warm tropical climate and easy to wash,majority of women travellers like to use them to and take with them back to there countries as souvenirs.

There readily available in many shops along the coastal trading centres in east Africa,while in any town around one can notice mostly women wearing kanga and even some women use them as baby carrier.it is a very respectable piece of cloth with deep rooted culture in the coastal areas of east Africa as from Kenya to Mozambique areas.