Niagassola

Niagassola lies in the Manding country near the upper Niger. The village is the home of the Sosso-Bala, a sacred wooden balafon kept by the Kouyaté family of griots. Its music and the stories told around it preserve memories of Sundiata Keita and the founding of Mali. Tradition connects the instrument with Sumanguru Kante, the ruler of Sosso defeated by Sundiata, and relates that it passed into the hands of the Kouyaté lineage. It is played on important ceremonial occasions.