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1. Located in the heart of Osogbo, Osun State, the Osun-Oshogbo grove was founded some 400 years ago in South-West Nigeria.
2. Dedicated to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility, the sacred area was established more than four centuries ago and is the largest of the sacred groves that have survived to the present.
3. The Osun River meanders through the protected area, with sanctuaries and shrines erected along its course.
4. In the twentieth century, the development of the movement of New Sacred Art invigorated efforts to protect the grove, and modern sculpture now adds to the spiritual significance of the site.
This movement was led by Susanne Wenger (1915–2009), an artist and Yoruba priestess, and it transformed Osogbo into a hub of artistic activity and new ideas about contemporary African art.
5. In 2005, the Osun-Osogbo Sagred Grove was designated a World Heritage Site.
6. The scared forest is regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Oshun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods.
7. The grove remains a place of worship, and it is now the site of an annual festival. An annual processional festival to re-establish the mystic bonds between the goddess and the people of the town occurs every year over twelve days in July and August and thus sustains the living cultural traditions of the Yoruba people.
8. Set within the forest sanctuary are forty shrines, sculptures and art works erected in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities, many created in the past forty years, two palaces, five sacred places and nine worship points strung along the river banks with designated priests and priestesses.
9. Osun shares many similarities with the Egyptian goddess Isis. The goddess Oshun, was not only the goddess of beauty and love. She brought also the teaching of divinations, mysticism, agriculture and culture to humans. She is known as the mother of the fishes of the seas and the birds of the forest. Isis used to be represented as the mother of the fishes and the Queen of the seas.
10. The grove is now unique in having a large component of 20th century sculpture created to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon, and the way in which Yoruba towns linked their establishment and growth to the spirits of the forest.
PHOTOS:
READ: 6 Key Facts About Osun Osogbo Festival
Image Credits: Message to Eagle
2. Dedicated to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility, the sacred area was established more than four centuries ago and is the largest of the sacred groves that have survived to the present.
3. The Osun River meanders through the protected area, with sanctuaries and shrines erected along its course.
4. In the twentieth century, the development of the movement of New Sacred Art invigorated efforts to protect the grove, and modern sculpture now adds to the spiritual significance of the site.
This movement was led by Susanne Wenger (1915–2009), an artist and Yoruba priestess, and it transformed Osogbo into a hub of artistic activity and new ideas about contemporary African art.
5. In 2005, the Osun-Osogbo Sagred Grove was designated a World Heritage Site.
6. The scared forest is regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Oshun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods.
7. The grove remains a place of worship, and it is now the site of an annual festival. An annual processional festival to re-establish the mystic bonds between the goddess and the people of the town occurs every year over twelve days in July and August and thus sustains the living cultural traditions of the Yoruba people.
8. Set within the forest sanctuary are forty shrines, sculptures and art works erected in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities, many created in the past forty years, two palaces, five sacred places and nine worship points strung along the river banks with designated priests and priestesses.
9. Osun shares many similarities with the Egyptian goddess Isis. The goddess Oshun, was not only the goddess of beauty and love. She brought also the teaching of divinations, mysticism, agriculture and culture to humans. She is known as the mother of the fishes of the seas and the birds of the forest. Isis used to be represented as the mother of the fishes and the Queen of the seas.
10. The grove is now unique in having a large component of 20th century sculpture created to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon, and the way in which Yoruba towns linked their establishment and growth to the spirits of the forest.
PHOTOS:
READ: 6 Key Facts About Osun Osogbo Festival
Image Credits: Message to Eagle
