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Sea goddess' devotees leave offerings at Rio beach

3 February 2023
29924
2023-02-03 10:31

Thousands of Yemanjá devotees gathered on Rio de Janeiro's Arpoardor beach on Thursday to join an annual homage to the sea goddess. The faithful donned white linens as they brought flower offerings to the water.

Yemanjá is a goddess in the Afro-Brazilian Candomble faith developed by Brazil's slave populations, who associated the Yoruba gods of their native West Africa with the Roman Catholic saints they encountered in the New World. She is usually represented as a white woman resembling the Virgin Mary. The annual celebration comes in the run up to Carnival festivities in Rio later this month.

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