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EveryParampara

Traditions of Maseru

The capital of Lesotho, kingdom in the sky, where the Basotho blanket and conical hat are daily dress.

Maseru lies on the western border of Lesotho, a mountain kingdom where almost everyone is Basotho. The Basotho blanket, a thick wool wrap of bold patterns, is worn as a cloak and carries meaning: a bride may receive a blanket at her wedding. The mokorotlo, a straw hat shaped like a mountain, is the national symbol.

Maseru: Maseru from Parliament Hill. South African farmlands clearly visable across the river
Photo: OER Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Blankets and horses

Basotho blankets are worn by shepherds and are given at weddings, births and initiation. Each pattern has a name. Herdboys ride horses and play the lesiba, a mouth-bow instrument. At initiations, boys go to a lebollo school in the mountains. Moshoeshoe's Day on 11 March honours the founder of the nation.

At the table

Papa, a stiff maize porridge, is served with moroho, greens, and stews. Likhobe, boiled maize and beans, and motoho, a fermented sorghum porridge, are eaten at home. Joala, traditional sorghum beer, is brewed by women, with a white flag outside the house showing that it is ready.

Signature traditions of Maseru

MokorotloThe conical hat.

Also part of it, and being written: Basotho blanket (The woven wrap.), Basotho people (The people.).

A trail idea for Maseru

  1. Basotho Hat See the building shaped like a hat.
  2. Thaba Bosiu The mountain of kings.
  3. Maseru Mall See crafts.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

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No traditions here yet. New pages are added every day.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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