Epiphany Holiday

Today is a holiday in Ethiopia known as Epiphany, or Timkat. This day celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John and is celebrated by Orthodox Christians around the world, such as in Russia, Greece and so forth, but possibly on different days since Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar. It is considered the most extravagant celebration other than the Meskel Festival in September. The best place to be is the town of Gondar, an old capital, since they have a massive baptism pool there that onlookers can apparently jump into. But Ethiopians everywhere in the country are keen to celebrate.
Epiphany really began Monday afternoon when churches around the country began taking their relics to central gathering spots nearby where people can congregate. With some 140 churches in Addis, there are various meeting points around town, and one of the largest in Addis Ababa is Jalmeda, up near Sidist Kilo. The relic, known as a tabot, represents the tablets of Moses on which is written the 10 Commandments. Since the Commandments were written by God, they consider this to be a close representation of Jesus. On Tuesday morning, the Orthodox priests bless people en mass with holy water and perform a rite with the tabot before returning their relics to their respective churches. For churches that are dedicated to Saint Michael, their tabot remains until Wednesday (and still another church will wait until Thursday), so that Epiphany is actually celebrated over a few days.
Monday evening, as we headed back from the office, the streets were already full of revelers and flags had been hung over streets around town. I even saw a few priests in full garb heading across town; a small preview of what is to come today I suppose.