Description
This is a UNESCO world heritage center that was made popular by Austrian woman Susan Wenger and who spent much of her life living at the groove
The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove, on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, is one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods, the landscape of the grove and its meandering river is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and art works in honour of Osun and other deities. The sacred grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last in Yoruba culture. It testifies to the once widespread practice of establishing sacred groves outside all settlements.
The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove, on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, is one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods, the landscape of the grove and its meandering river is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and art works in honour of Osun and other deities. The sacred grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last in Yoruba culture. It testifies to the once widespread practice of establishing sacred groves outside all settlements.
Forêt sacrée d’Osun-Oshogbo
Criterion (ii): The development of the movement of New Sacred Artists and the absorption of Suzanne Wenger, an Austrian artist, into the Yoruba community have proved to be a fertile exchange of ideas that revived the sacred Osun Grove ;
Criterion (iii): The Osun Sacred Grove is the largest and perhaps the only remaining example of a once widespread phenomenon that used to characterise every Yoruba settlement. It now represents Yoruba sacred groves and their reflection of Yoruba cosmology.
Criterion (vi): The Osun Grove is a tangible expression of Yoruba divinatory and cosmological systems; its annual festival is a living thriving and evolving response to Yoruba beliefs in the bond between people, their ruler and the Osun goddess.
Long Description
The Osun Sacred Grove is the largest and perhaps the only remaining example of a once widespread phenomenon that used to characterise every Yoruba settlement. It now represents Yoruba sacred groves and their reflection of Yoruba cosmology. It is a tangible expression of Yoruba divinatory and cosmological systems; its annual festival is a living thriving and evolving response to Yoruba beliefs in the bond between people, their ruler and the Osun goddess.
The grove covers 75 ha of ring-fenced forest alongside the Osun River on the outskirts of Osogbo town, Western Nigeria. About 2 million people live in Osogbo. The grove in Yoruba cosmology is the domicile of Osun, the goddess of fertility. Ritual paths lead devotees to 40 shrines, dedicated to Osun and other Yoruba deities, and to nine specific worship points beside the river. Osun is the Yoruba personification of the 'waters of life' and the spiritual mother of the Osogbo township. It also symbolizes a pact between Larooye, the founder of Osogbo, and Osun: the goddess gave prosperity and protection to her people if they built a shrine to her and respected the sprit of the forest. Unlike other Yoruba towns whose sacred groves have atrophied, or disappeared, the Osogbo Grove has, over the past 40 years, been re-established as a central, living focus of the town. The Osogbo Grove is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, including those of the African diaspora, many of whom make pilgrimages to the annual festival.
The grove has a mature, reasonably undisturbed, forest canopy, which supports a rich and diverse flora and fauna - including the endangered white-throated monkey. Some parts were cleared in the colonial period, and teak plantations and agriculture introduced, but these are now being re-established. The grove is a highly sacred sanctuary where shrines, sculptures and artworks honour Osun and other Yoruba deities. It has five main sacred divisions associated with different gods and cults, located either side of a path transecting the grove from north-west to south-east.
The Osun River meanders through the whole grove and along its length are nine worship points. Throughout the grove the broad river is overhung with forest trees. Its waters signify a relationship between nature, the spirits and human beings, reflecting the place given to water in the Yoruba cosmology as symbolizing life. The river is believed to have healing, protective and fertility powers. The fish are said to have been used by the goddess Osun as messengers of peace, blessings and favour.
Traditionally, sacred trees and stones and metal objects, along with mud and wood sculptures, defined the deities in the grove. During the past 40 years, new sculptures have been erected in the place of old ones and giant, immovable ones created in threatened spaces in the grove by Suzanne Wenger working with a group of local artists called New Sacred Art. These sculptures are made from a variety of materials - stone, wood, iron and concrete. There are also wall paintings and decorative roofs made from palm fronds.
There are two palaces. The first is part of the main Osun-Osogbo shrine. The second palace is where Larooye moved to before the community established a new settlement outside the grove. Both buildings are constructed of mud walls with tin roofs supported variously by mud and carved wooden pillars. The three Ogboni buildings are constructed with sweeping roofs rising high over the entrances and supported on a cluster of slender carved wooden posts.
The Annual Osun-Osogbo festival is a 12-day event held once a year at the end of July and the beginning of August. The grove is seen as the repository of kingship, as well as the spiritual heart of the community. The festival invokes the spirits of the ancestor kings and rededicates the present Oba to Osun, as well as reaffirming and renewing the bonds between the deities represented in the Sacred Grove and the people of Osogbo. The finale of the festival is a procession of the whole population, led by the votary maid Arugba and headed by the Oba and priests, all accompanied by drumming, singing and dancing.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
The town of Osogbo is believed to have been founded around 400 years ago. It is part of the wider Yoruba community, divided into 16 kingdoms, which legend says were ruled by the children of Oduduwa, the mythic founder, whose abode at Ile-Ife, south-east of Osogbo, is still regarded as the spiritual home of the Yoruba people.
The earliest settlement seems to have been in the Osogbo Grove and included palaces and a market. When the population expanded the community moved outside the Grove and created a new town, which reflected spatially the arrangements within the Grove.
In the 1840s Osogbo became a refugee town for people fleeing the Fulani Jihad, as it moved south from what is now northern Nigeria. The Yorubas retreated further south into the forests and Osogbo, right at the northern edge of the forest, became an important centre for northern Yorubaland.
The Fulani attacks on Osogbo were repelled and, as a result, Osogbo has become a symbol of pride for all the Yorubas.
During the first half of the 20th century, the town of Osogbo expanded considerably. In 1914 British colonial rule begun. As it was delivered under a system of indirect rule through traditional rulers, the authority of the Oba and priests were sustained. A greater change was brought about from the middle of the 19th century through the introduction of both Islam and Christianity. Islam became the religion of traders and ruling houses - as it gave contacts to northern trade routes and links to returning exslaves from Central and South America. For a while all three religions co-existed but as time went by it became less fashionable to be identified with the Ogboni and Osun cults.
By the 1950s the combined political and religious changes were having a marked detrimental effect on the Grove: customary responsibilities and sanctions were weakening, shrines were becoming neglected and traditional priests began to disappear. All this was exacerbated by a rise in the looting of statues and movable sculptures to feed an antiquities market. At around this time part of the Grove was acquired by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry for agricultural experiments. Trees were felled and teak plantations established; sculptures were reportedly stolen and hunting and fishing begun to be recorded - previously forbidden in the sacred Grove.
It was at this crucial point in the history of the Grove that Austrian born Suzanne Wenger moved to Osogbo and, with the encouragement of the Oba and the support from local people, formed the New Sacred Art movement to challenge land speculators, repel poachers, protect shrines and begin the long process of bringing the sacred place back to life through once again establishing it as the sacred heart of Osogbo.
The artists deliberately created large, heavy and fixed sculptures in iron, cement and mud, as opposed to the smaller traditional wooden ones, in order that their intimidatory architectural forms would help to protect the Grove and stop thefts. All the sculptures have been done in full respect for the spirit of the place, with inspiration from Yoruba mythology and in consultations with the gods in a traditional context.
The new work has made the Grove a symbol of identity for the Yoruba people. Many from the African Diaspora now undertake a pilgrimage to the annual festival.
In 1965 part of the Grove was declared a national monument. This was extended in 1992 so that now the whole 75 hectares are protected
OSUN OSOGBO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
The early history of the Oshogbo people is founded on mythical and spiritual beliefs, along the lines of the traditions of the Yoruba people. The Osun, river goddess is credited with the founding and establishment of Oshogbo town. Some accounts describe her as, Oso-Igbo, the queen and original founder of Oshogbo town. Thus the Osun Oshogbo festival, which has been celebrated for about six hundred centuries, was built around a relationship between the river goddess Osun, and the first monarch of Oshogbo kingdom, Oba Gbadewolu Larooye.
Oshogbo town is set to come alive again, with this year’s celebration of the world class festival. The two weeklong festival has already begun gathering momentum with the opening events such as the traditional cleansing of the city, or the Iwopopo, followed by the lighting of the five hundred years old sixteen points lamp also known as the Olojumeridinlogun.
I visited the town, had an encounter with the, Osun priestess or Iya Osun and the Arugba, icons of the festival who have begun preparations ahead of the grand finale which is the cultural procession to the river.
Iya Osun amongst other things disclosed that she is a protégée of Susan Wenger, the German born devotee of the Osun deity.
The votary maid or Arugba, who leads the procession during the grand finale of the festival, is required to be a virgin, as high premium is placed on purity. This role has been played by Agbolade for the past six years who says her peers were initially awed by her divine role and thus avoided her.
Osogbo will once again be the major attention of the world, as the people of Osun State celebrate the annual feast (Osun Osogbo) that has come to represent a point of convergence for the people of the region. And as the case in the last two successive editions, the telecoms giants, MTN, is set to make it a memorable get together for the people and tourists from around the globe.
The telecom giant has been very active in reawakening the age long tradition of the Africans. The people of African have been known for their communal identity, which reflected in the strong bond that existed among the founding fathers. And this was subsequently passed on to their descendants as a way of life, which is tied to cultural values as a kind of heritage. However, one major threat to African culture has been modernization. With the advent of western education, Africans were quick to accept the western way of life, from language, to food, and even dressing.
A quick look into history revealed that, most of the age-long cultural heritage of the founding fathers of Africans has gone into extinction with the coming of modern norms and civilization. While attempt will not be made to question the benefit of the encroaching way of life, it must be said that effort must be made to remind Africans of their root, for the sake of posterity, for which the company must be given credence.
Despite the gradual fading away of celebrated African cultural traditions, one that has not only stood the test of time, but a reference point, even till today is the Osun Osogbo Festival. Since 1370, the people of this part of the world, south-west Nigeria, have been able to hold on to what was bestowed on them by their fore fathers.
As a mark of the bond that was established over six centuries ago, Osogbo people gather annually to celebrate, what they observe as their founders' day. A unique cultural practice built around the relationship that existed between a river goddess and Oba Gbadewolu Laroye, the first monarch of the Osogbo Kingdom. Inside the Osun grove lay the origin of the Osogbo ascendancy and kingship institution.
Records show that the Osun grove is a highly sacred sanctuary where different shrines, sculptures and artworks have been erected to honour, celebrate and remember all the Yoruba deities in the grove. Because it is generally believed by the people, the sacred River Osun is a goddess and some mythical and metaphorical significance are attached to it.
The Osun is acclaimed as the goddess of fertility, prosperity and healing. Despite the proximity of the forest to human habitation, the grove was traditionally maintained and protected by the indigenous people using myths and belief system. These prevent any forms of encroachment regarded as sacrilegious and offensive to the gods and goddess. Osun grove was recognized by UNESCO in 2005 as a world heritage site, and this has been linked to the consistence that the festival has enjoyed over the years and the protection of the values of the grove by the people.
Speaking during the 2007 MTN sponsored Ataoja Football Challenge, on what has helped to preserve the Osun Osogbo heritage in the face of the threat of civilization, the coordinator of the National Museum, Oluremi Funsho Adedayo, who is directly in charge of the grove, explained that it has to do with consistence.
According to him, “The reason why UNESCO recognized this site, the Osun Osogbo sacred grove, inclusive of the festival, is because of the authenticity that is involved. It is the only festival that since 1370 AD, has remained what it was originally despite modernity. There has not been any adulteration, everything has been in its original state, and all the structure, that were put in place that form the foundation of Osun Osogbo kingdom are still in existence in the grove. Those are the attributes that you call the authenticity and integrity of a site”.
Osun Osogbo Festival has a two-week programmes of events starting with the traditional cleansing of the town called Iwopopo followed by the lightening of the 500 years old 16 points lamp three days later, called Olojumerindinlogun. This is followed by Iboriade some four days later, which is the assemblage of all the crowns of the past rulers (Ataojas), for blessings. The festival’s grand finale showcases the cultural procession of the people to the Osun Groove. As a mark of respect to the Osun deity, the people visit the grove to pay homage to what is now known as the living spring.
And this is being led by the Ataoja, who is the traditional ruler and the votary maid (Arugba), propelled by Yeye Osun, and her committee of priestesses. The Arugba bore the people age long prayers to the grove, in her calabash of effigy which can only be carried by a virgin, which signifies purity. The procession begins at the palace of the monarch, when the Ataoja is paid obeisance by the Arugba. From there, she commenced the procession to the grove.
As usual, the people come with all their demands, as they visit the river within the grove which has been preserved for the annual convergence. It is the general belief of the people that through the covenant between the goddess and their founding fathers, Osogbo has remained a peaceful, progressive and benevolent city without any ravage of war or pestilence.
The Osun-Osogbo festival with its international status has become a major tourist attraction. Observation over the years has shown that the period of the festival is about the best time to see the city as people parade the streets in their colours. The people look forward to it with great expectations, and for the period that it lasts, procession, dance, Art exhibition and colourful carnivals are major attractions of the Osun Osogbo Cultural Festival.
And the event over the years, has given residents and tourists the opportunity to recreate socially, and culturally, as they re-enact one of their renowned age-long spiritual and communal feasts. Corporate organizations have helped to give it the needed awareness, to maintain its international status. For instance, MTN, Coca Cola are among others that have been associated with the festival. And this has helped to leverage the festival to the international world.
Again, the ancient city of Osogbo, will this month be painted yellow, as the leading telecommunication company in Nigeria; MTN, is raising the bar to create ultimate fun at this year's Festival, which MTN is the major sponsor.
The company will be involved in various activities which include; Art Exhibition, Olagunsoye Oyinlola Golf Tournament Cocktail party at Ada, the Ataoja Youth Football Challenge, African Woman Cultural Pageant, and the Festival Musical Concert, which D’ Banj, 9ice, Pasuma and other up-coming artistes are billed to perform. There will also be festival promotion raffle draw, where winners will go home with lots of prizes from the foremost telecommunication company.
MTN Nigeria has over the years, been conscientiously involved in various cultural activities across the country. Recently it sponsored the Ikeji Festival of the Arondizuogu in Imo state, a popular festival that brings the people of the Igbo speaking community around the world together. MTN is also noted for its active sponsorship of the famous Argungu Fishing Festival in Kebbi State.
The telecom giant has also been making the annual Lisabi Festival a tourist destination for the people of Abeokuta, Ogun State. These among others are major cultural activities that MTN actively sponsored in order to promote and propagate the socio cultural values and interest of the Nigerian people
August of tourism festivals in South West
The tourism fever is gripping the South- West, a region known to be a pace setter in Nigeria. For a couple of towns have chosen the month of August, as the month of festivities and celebrations. Even from the Biblical point, August is the month of exceeding joy.
The historical Oke-Ila town in Osun State will kick off giving the relay, where the beat goes on to Osun-Osogbo.
Oke-Ila, Osun State - Every child counts festival; August 12- 14 It is an initiative of Oba Adedokun Abolarin, Aroyinkeye II, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, who because of his education, exposure, social interaction believes that talents can be tapped in the locality through celebration and veneration of the art, culture, mores, norms and values of the people in an ambiance of conviviality.
The three-day event is a comprehensive package of the best of arts and cultural displays of the famous Oke-Ila people of Osun State.
Ado Ekiti Udiroko festival What makes Ewi thick — August 13
ADO-EKITI is a special town in Yorubaland and particularly in Ekiti State not because of its agrarian and military exploits in those days only neither is it because of the city’s commercial history, but the foundation of Ado, the capital city of Ekiti State, is rooted in the celebration of Udiroko Festival which the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III and the Ewi in Council with the support of the State Government will showcase to all on August 13 at the Ewi’s palace.
Usi Ekiti Usi Day Carnival, Olusi’s coronation — August 14 - 16
FESTIVITIES will migrate from Ado Ekiti to Usi Ekiti, Ido-Osi Local Government, Ekiti State where for four days, the foremost educational town in Ekiti State will be in celebration of the 27, Edition of Usi-Day celebration, which has been transformed into a carnival and which is designed and configured to fit the coronation and presentation of staff of office, Oba Adedayo George Akande, Orokoyo II, the Olusi of Usi Ekiti.
The event will also feature the launching of N250 million Palace fund at St. Andrew’s playground on Saturday, 16 August, 2008 by 10.00 a.m.
Osun Osogbo International Festival — August 28
The Grand finale
THE month of August will be eclipsed by the grand finale of the Osun-Osogbo international festival holding at the Osun Groove.
This year's Osun Osogbo is bound to be well organised with a strategy of crowd control being put in place by the organisers, Osogbo Heritage Council and Infogem, the marketing consultant for the festival.
