MUKASA

Waters, prosperity, fishing

Mukasa counts among the most venerated deities of the Baganda pantheon, and some sources even present him as the head of the balubaale. A benevolent spirit, he presides over prosperity, abundant harvests, fecundity and health, and he is above all the guardian of the great lake the Baganda call Nalubaale — Lake Victoria. Legend tells that as a child Mukasa refused ordinary food and then disappeared, before being found seated under a great tree on an island; fearing he might be a spirit, the inhabitants built him a hut upon a rock. His principal temple stood on the island of Bubembe, in Lake Victoria, and his cult radiated through many sanctuaries across the country. The bond with kingship was strong: the kabaka, sovereign of Buganda, sent each year to the Bubembe temple an offering of cows together with a request for prosperity and good harvests. Mukasa's priests served as oracles and conveyed his counsel. Genealogically, Mukasa is the son of Wanema, the elder brother of Kibuka the war god, and the grandson of Musisi, embodiment of the earthquake. Like his brother, he is described as a former mortal deified — an illustration of the porous border, in Ganda thought, between exceptional human heroes and balubaale.