ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Orthodox Christians across the country on Monday marked the three-day Ethiopian epiphany, the baptism of Jesus Christ, with various assortments of unique and colorful religious and cultural activities.
The Ethiopian epiphany (Timket in Amharic), which is largely considered as one of Ethiopia's highly rated public events, is a three-day affair involving distinctive religious and cultural activities that commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
Even though the core religious idea attached to the Ethiopian epiphany is similar to other Christians worldwide, the celebrations are quite unique in Ethiopia.
Last year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had inscribed Timket on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which was attributed to unique Timket celebrations across Ethiopia - Africa's second populous nation with an estimated 107 million total population.
The Ethiopian epiphany is a colorful festival celebrated all over Ethiopia to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ, in which the commemoration starts on the eve of the main festival, which falls on Jan. 18, or Jan. 19 during leap year such as this year's edition of the celebration.
On the first day of the celebration, the Ark of the Covenant replicas (Tabots in Amharic) of each church are carried out in procession to a public space where the next main day's celebration will take place.
A special tent is set up at the public space where each replica of the Ark of the Covenant rests as members of the church choirs chant hymns all night long and are accompanied by priests with their prayer.
The beating of drums, ringing of bells, and other spiritual activities are also integral parts of the Timket celebrations.
The Tabots symbolizes the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the Ten Commandments.
The second day of the celebrations on Jan. 19, or Jan. 20 during a leap year, is the main day of the Ethiopian Epiphany celebrations, in which Ethiopian orthodox congregations from all segments of the society march cheerfully when the Tabots made way back to respective churches.
On the third day of the celebration, which is known as the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, only the Tabot of St. Michael's is returned to its church with the same singing and dancing of priests and believers.
Albeit the Ethiopian epiphany (Timket) celebrations are marked nationwide across the East African country, Ethiopia's historic city of Gondar located in the northwestern part of the country annually hosts hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians across the country, foreign Orthodox Christians as well as tourists.
According to Gondar city administration, about 15,000 foreign nationals are attending this year's epiphany celebration in the historical city.
