What Is Candomble?

The word Candomblé refers to a religion or a set of religious beliefs which is of an African orign. The religion Candomble is practiced mainly in Brazil. It is also in other Countries that are adjacent to Brazil. The religion is believed to have come from Africa, where it originated to Brazil. It was carried to Brazil by African priests and adherents of the religion, who were brought as slaves between the year 1549 and the year 1850.

Some scholars also argue that the religion is African peoples getting united under similar and common African practices, thereby making this religion Candomble a New World practice rather than merely a remnant of the African practice. The term Batuque is also used for this religion. This term was especially used before the 19th century, that was when the religion Candomblé became more common. Both the words are believed to have derived from a Bantu-family language, which is mainly considered to be that of the Kongo Kingdom.

Although the religion Candomble was originally confined to the slave population who were brought to Brazil from Africa and it was banned by the Catholic church, and it was even criminalized by some governments, still Candomblé thrived for more than four centuries, and then expanded considerably after the end of the  slavery in later part of the 17th century.