The stone that resembles ‘Jesus’ Mother’

It is a stone like any other but its shape, location, religious and historical attachment makes it iconic and sacred to some people who pay homage to it.

“Eibaare rya Bikira Maria” loosely translated as “the stone of the holy mother of Jesus” because of its shape, is located in Kahara village, Kichenche parish, Nyakishenyi Sub-county in Rukungiri District.

A century ago (1910-1919), the stone was a launch pad for the fight against colonialists who wanted to control Kigezi. At the end of the 20th century in 2000, a cult sprung from there and brought an end to thousands of lives from western Uganda in an inferno.

From a distance, it looks like a mere rock perched on top of a hill. The hill is over 2000m high, making climbing seem impossible.

In 1994, the Church for the restoration of the ten commandments of God founded by Joseph Kibwetere began in the same place with at least 20 followers.

A move to construct a church there was blocked by residents and they later shifted to Nyabugoto in Kanungu about 40km away. On April 14, 2000, thousands of followers were consumed in an inferno orchestrated by the church’s founder.

In 1880 and early 1900s, the caves acted as a hiding place for the Nyabingi movement in the Kigezi region led by Ntoki Ibiri Ndugutse (who had only two fingers on his right hand). The movement rebelled against the invasion of Kigezi by rulers from Ankole and Rwanda and later the colonialists.

In 1910, Ndungutse who was guided by Nyabingi powers launched a resistance against Whites and their native front runners. The battles took place in areas of Kinkizi, Kabale, Nyarushanje and Nyakishenyi and would go in to Congo and Rwanda.

The resistance was one of the most notorious with several huts burnt; some colonial front runners killed- an issue that led to the stay of colonialism in Kigezi region until after the First World War (1919).

Ndungutse would fight colonialists in Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda. After 1919, Ndungutse’s Nabingi movement was defeated by a combination of colonialists from Uganda, Rwanda and Zaire and was captured from Nyakishenyi caves where he was hiding and his head was cut off and taken away by Germans.

The stone is believed to be a source of pride and Nyabingi (god of warriors of Kigezi) to whom they would sing: Aheibaare Ry’engoma Entare Esinda Nibwaba meaning: “on the stone of the throne, the lion roars at sunset.”

It is one of the most common traditional folk songs in praise of the warriors who sought blessings from the god. In this case, the throne signifies the base of power and leadership. Kahara village from where the stone is located gets its name from Omuhara, a Rukiga word for a young girl. Such names according to the Kigezi cultures (Bakiga, Bahororo, Bafumbira, Batwa), would mean a productive place or a female dominated village. No wonder most of the families living around the stone either produced more girls than boys or produced only girls. One of such families in the area is Joram Ruhindi’s who had more girls and all became prosperous.

Behind the hill where the stone lays, is a village called Kyabakazi, where women are believed to have been superior to men and used their powers to do anything they could. One begins climbing the hill near the home of the powerful family of Ruhindi near Nyakisoroza trading centre.

The nature of the path in which one begins walking through to the stone reminds many of the saying that the road to heaven is very narrow.

The locals never pay homage to it
Almost everyone in the village would tell you where the stone is, but many of the people have never visited it because of the misconception surrounding it.

“The stone is up there, you move over that hill, slope down and you will see many rocks up, then climb again to the top, they tell us you will automatically see the holy mother standing, just move on, and you will reach. For me I have never gone there,” Jane Kyorimpa, 64, of Kyabakazi village directs us as she pointis to the hill.

There are four hills that lay side by side, all with many rocks, with caves some of which can accommodate close to 10 people at a go. One must not look down while climbing if they are afraid of heights. Snakes and lizards take off for their dear lives as one scuttles on the rocks.

Every rock seems to be similar to the other, which makes one stop almost every time to see whether he has by-passed the popular rock. Some rocks are unfriendly to a climber because of their slippery nature and the thought of the rock falling on you is present.

One of the rocks which is about 40 metres high, has a cave. The cave has a stone whose structure resembles the sculpture of the Holy Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. There is no doubt if you are a believer in the Roman Catholic faith and have ever seen the image that this is really very similar to the image of the mother of Jesus.

From a distance, the small rock (sculpture) looks like it has been placed there. It is only after you have reached and critically looked at it that you realise it is part of the mother rock. Behind the sculpture, is an open dark space. One person can comfortably sit there. Around the sculpture is dry grass which has been laid by pilgrims and there are all signs of human presence in the near past.

Denis Nuwaha, 21, a casual labourer says most residents graze their goats in the hills but rarely get close to the stone as the goats may fail to climb up. He says some cows have died from the hills by sliding.

“I have always wanted to visit the stone but whenever I suggest going there, they discourage me, but I hear it’s an interesting view, I will one time escape and go there. people are graze goats near it,” he says.

Some of the people in the area look at the stone every morning but do not have any attachment to it and most of them have never visited it despite seeing many pilgrims climb it.

An attraction to foreigners
“They always say, a prophet is never popular at home, while we have always seen many people coming from as far as Ntungamo, Kabale, Kisoro, Kanungu, Bushenyi, Mbarara, Masaka and other areas to pray to the stone, few people here have had interest to do the same,” says George Bakeine, 68, the Nyakishenyi Parish chief catechist.

After the first catholic church was founded at Nyarushanje by a Muganda colonial front runner Ssabalija in 1954 (the first in the Kigezi region), people who looked at the image of the virgin Mary started likening its art with that of the stone in the cave up the rocky hill.

“It was in 1958 when the stone was identified with the likeness of Holy Mary, a church had been established at Nyarushanje, and many owls used to stay in that cave. People started respecting the stone,” Bakeine says adding

“It has been popular since then but its popularity dwindled in 2000 when people perished at Kanungu, very few people can now go there,” he says.

Bakeine says, a White catholic priest at Nyakishenyi Parish and other church heads in 1970s visited the cave to discover what power the stone had.

The stone has many names; it all depends on who names it, like Eibaare rya Nyabingi, Eibaare rya Bikira Maria or Nyabugoto. The most popular one currently is Nyabugoto which it attained after Kibwetere had burnt followers at Nyabugoto in Kanungu District having founded his church near the cave.

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