Osun Grove: Beyond The Monumental Cultural Heritage

LIKE all the monumental and most spectacular natural wonders of the world which has become a point of reference in world art history, even if the world are discovering some other wonders, one should note that some wonders before the medieval period are no longer exist, many of our fun and tourist seeking folks have found their way one me or the other to the exis ng natural divinely created heritages. Some of them from the primordial realm could s ll be men oned here. They are the Great pyramid of Giza, Hanging Garden of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes and Lighthouse of Alexandra. Of all these wonders, only the Great Pyramid of Giza s ll exists and people are spending a lot of money to travel there to behold it’s greatness in Egypt.

What is worthy of note back home here is the way the monuments and the statues at the Osun Grove were painstakingly constructed by the famous late octogenarian Austria Ar st, Adunni Olorisa - the Late Susan Wenger who can be likened to the two Egyp an Pharaohs, the Ramses II and the Ramses III, the third one known as the Ramses the Great died in 1225BC.

What this piece is reminding our people about is not to let the legacy of Late Susan Wenger a er her demise and those who founded this monument - the Osun grove die. Why we need to rejoice and happy is the interest the former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, had placed on the cultural and tradi onal ac vi es of the people of Osun while he was in government.

Surrep ously, it was through his ingenuity the founda on of Osun Grove Pavilion was laid and constructed before the twilight of his administra on. It was because he demonstrated unbridled panache for crea ng tourists a rac on desna on that the UNESCO bought into it by suppor ng the course in kind and in cash, rehabilitated the road from Olaiya to the Grove and straight to Ita-Olokan Junc on.

That erroneous believe concerning the obsessive secrecy a ached to the faith of our people that our culture and tradi on is fe sh has been laid to rest once and for all, and since then they have been able to set the ball rolling delving deep into the chronology of the Osun Osogbo laid down tradi on. This went a long way to disabuse our people’s minds that the ac vi es they dread a er all have been a source of revenue for our community.

Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove is an organically enveloped cultural landscape associated with Yoruba tradi onal religion and culture. Osun Grove is a world heritage site with primary rainforest vegeta on covering an area of 75 hectares of land with a buffer zone of 47 hectares surrounding it. It is located along the banks of Osun River in Osogbo local government area of Osun State, South Western Nigeria. The grove is situated on the margins of the southern forest of Nigeria on a raised parcel of land, which are about 350m above sea level. Laro and Timehin Grammar School bound the grove in the north, while in the south is bounded by the entrance of Osun State University which runs parallel to form the western boundary. In the East, it is also bounded by Osun State Agric Farm Se lement.

In Yoruba cosmology, Osun was said to have metamorphosed into river as a result of a misunderstanding between ‘Oba’ a co-wife of Sango. The Osun river takes its source from Igede Eki and flows through Ilesa to Osogbo town and empty itself into Atlan c Ocean. It is believed that the goddess in-habits the Grove, while the river meander within and into the Grove called Osun Osogbo Sacred grove. The grove was discovered by an elephant hunter called Olu mehin, who hailed from Ipole – Omu in Ijesa land. This confirm the fact that the early Osogbo people were Ijesas from Ipole–Omu in Obokun local government area, where they were faced with the problem of draught, which prevented them from ge ng adequate supply of water for farming, cooking, bathing and all other domes c uses.

Osun Defender

Publisher – Moremi Publishing House Ltd.

Deputy Editor – Ismaeel Uthman

Produc on Editor – Petkola Taiwo Ibitowa

Reporter – Yusuf Oketola

Reporter – Kazeem Badmus

Photo Journalist – Shola Aderinto

Computer Graphics – Zainab Olalere

Timehin, the great hunter in one of his expedi ons came across the river in the grove, and he reported back to Larooye, the King of IpoleOmu and suggested that the king should establish his kingdom in the grove. Larooye was the Owaroki (Crown King) of Ipole-Omu - a se lement built on hilly area surrounded by a trench, dug to protect the community from external aggression.

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Gbogan Road Osogbo, State of Osun

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Larooye and his people migrated from Ipole–omu to se le at the plains of river Osun, where the first palace was erected. While they were building and engaging in farming ac vi es which involved clearing and felling of trees, one of the branches fell into the river on the DYE POT of Osun goddess, who

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