Iyamode

Iyamode is the only person in the entire world the Aláàfin is permitted to kneel down before. He kneels before no one else except Iyamode. Iyamode occupies a role deeply respected that the king calls her ‘Baba’ (father).
Whenever the Aláàfin goes on his knees before this powerful woman, she also returns the salutation by going down on her knees but never reclines on her elbows while doing so as this is the custom of women in saluting their superiors. She resides outside of the palace and she is the superior of the celibates living in Bara (the royal mausoleum). Once a woman becomes Iyamode, she becomes celibate and stays away from sex for life. She is one of the most senior priestesses in the Aláàfin’s royal court.