Epiphany (Timket): Timket (Epiphany) the greatest festival of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church. The festival of Timket fall on January 18 and 19 every year. It commemorates when Saint John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. The festival starts in the early hours of the eve of Timket. Two weeks after the Ethiopian Christmas. The church Tabots (the replicas of the Ark of the covenant containing the Tabots of Law, on to which the Biblical ten commandments were inscribed) to the nearby water body. In the culmination of the ceremony, priests bless the water and a communal baptism follows, splashing water on everyone and, if the body of water is large enough, the most fervent followers will immerse themselves. Following the baptism the Tabots are paraded back to their churches accompanied by church members and believers, chant, dancing, drum-beating, prayer stick waving. Axum, Lalibela, Gondar, and Addis are the best place to experience this cultural celebration.
