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Manhyia Palace Museum, a
remarkable museum in its own right
Audrey Micah, Ghanadot
Kumasi, May 1, Ghanadot - The Manyia Palace
Museum of part of the palace complex of Manhyia Palace,
the residence of the Kings of Ashanti since 1924.
The palace complex consists of the old palace,
the new palace (1970, the King's courts, the Queen Mother's
Palace, Secretariats and an Institute of Ashanti Studies. It is
open throughout the week and can be visited
with the permission of the Public Relations Officer
for the palace.
Menhyia Palace Museum provides a good insight
into Ashanti culture and traditions, and the history of the
Ashanti Kingdom which is over 300 years old. It provides a good
glimpse into the once powerful ancient
Ashanti Empire and
its past Kings.
Among the things that visitors would
have the opportunity of seeing is a
photograph of the Golden Stool, the soul of
the Ashanti people which is
said to have been conjured from the
skies some 300 years ago by the great
legendary priest Okomfo Anokye.
The Golden Stool is believed to be the strength of the
Asante people and it is so sacred that not even the King is
allowed to sit on it.
Also on display at the museum are monuments
for
past Asante kings.
The Manshia Palace Museum is described as a living museum.
It houses drums and palanquins
which are over hundred years old, and once
every six weeks, there is "Adae""
festival at the Palace when the King turns out in all his golden
regalia and some of the equipments in the
museum are used to celebrate the occasion.
There are also the effigies of the late
kings. Otumfuo Osei Agyeman
Prempeh I, the king sent into exile in the
Seychelles island by the British colonials, Otumfuo Osei
Agyeman Prempeh II, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II and the present
monarch Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Also at the Museum is the effigy of Nana Yaa
Asantewaa, the warrior queen-mother of Ejisu
who raised and led armed men into battle against the British
and some of the guns used
during her war in 1900.
The Manshia Palace Museum
may be the most remarkable museum in
Ghana today because its is restricted to the
display of royal artifacts. It was established in
July,1995, to mark the Silver Jubilee of the accession to the
Golden Stool by the late King Otumfuo
Opoku Ware II.
According to the coordinator of the museum,
Mr. Osei Kwodwo, who took
Ghanadot and Emerging Media Institute
crew to show the exhibits, the museum
building used to serve as the home of the King of the
Ashantis Otumfuo Osei Agyeman Prempeh I and his royal family
members.
He said it was built by the British to compensate
for wrongfully sending their king
into exile. Upon returning after
28 years from the Seychelles, the king refused to
accept the offer of a free building and requested that his
subjects pay for the palace
before he would settle in it.
That request was promptly fulfilled by the Ashantis.
Mr. Osei Kwodwo said
the palace was turned into a
historical museum by Nana Opoku Ware II who
came after Prempeh II.
Ihe museum has some modern aspects
also. There is a video room
where programs are shown to educate visitors
about the museum. A television set
which was given to Prempeh II when television service was started
in the country in 1965. And a remarkable 57
year old
refrigerator first used by Prempeh II
which is in perfect condition today.
When next you are in Kumasi, visit the Manhyia Palace Museum
to see some rich
aspect of Ashanti and Ghanaian history at the Manshia Palace
Museum.
Ghanadot
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