Defying the odds: Discover Nigeria's Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

Once upon a time in Yorubaland – the Yoruba peoples’ ancestral territory in south-west Nigeria, Togo and Benin – every city had a sacred grove. That is, a patch of forest in which it was forbidden to hunt, build or cut trees, and where prayers and sacrifices to the orisa were made. The orisa are the gods and spirits of the Yoruba cosmology, a pantheon numbering in the hundreds, with all the depth, intrigue and complexity of Greek myth. They have also spread around the globe, living on across the Atlantic in the syncretic religions of the Afro-Atlantic world: Brazilian Candomblé, Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodou – all have their roots in these forests.

But in recent decades these sacred groves began to disappear. A stigma developed around orisa worship, as Christianity and Islam became increasingly dominant. The rampant, unplanned urbanisation common to Nigeria also took its toll, bringing down trees and taboos together, salami-slicing these oases of the spirits into extinction.

Except one. The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, a 75-hectare refuge set in the heart of Osogbo city (population: circa 820,000). This leafy grove sits astride a lazy bend in the Osun River, which acts as Nigeria’s own Ganges and is named after the orisa Osun, patron of love, beauty and fresh water. Pilgrims come here to drink and bathe in the healing river, though much like the murky Ganges itself, this takes some amount of faith indeed.

So how did the grove in Osogbo survive when so many others had disappeared? At least in part, it owes a debt of thanks to an Austrian artist by the name of Susanne Wenger. Arriving in Nigeria in 1950, she soon found herself enchanted with Yoruba traditional culture, and the revitalisation and preservation of the then-neglected grove at Osogbo became her life’s work.

Alongside a collective of local artists and traditional priests, she began creating an otherworldly pantheon of monumental sculptures within the grove. The swirling clay-and-concrete creations, some many metres high, look as if they’ve grown from the red earth itself, and they represent dozens of figures from the Yoruba cosmology: there’s Ogun, patron of warriors and blacksmiths; Yemoja, responsible for pregnant women and fishermen; Esu, linked to mischief and travellers; and Elegua, deity of roads and destiny.

At the base of many of these statues sits the evidence of sacrifices past: conical sugarloaf hills of cassava flour, runny red streams of palm kernel oil and the telltale rusty stains and mottled feathers left behind by an unlucky chicken or guinea fowl. At the centre of the grove, just alongside the river, sits a shrine and altar-stage where public prayers and performances take place. Here, troupes of dancers, drummers and singers put on performances channelling – and some might even say “becoming” – the orisa themselves. How else to explain the fire eating, razor chewing, skin piercing and other uncanny feats of strength, other than Sango himself – god of thunder, fire and virility – making an appearance?

The grove was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, and while the unlikely Yoruba priestess from the mountains of Austria passed away in 2009, the grove remains today a vital and living site, existing as the symbol of a rich heritage nearly lost, and as a point of pride and identity for Yoruba people everywhere. Everyone at the grove still affectionately recalls “Mama Susanne”, but it’s the orisa who remain lord and master in Osogbo.

Need to know

Location: The Sacred Grove is surrounded by Osogbo city, which sits 210km north-east of Nigeria’s coastal metropolis and former capital, Lagos.

Getting there: British Airways runs daily non-stop flights from London Heathrow to Lagos, which take around 6.5 hours. 

Getting around: From Lagos, Osogbo-bound buses depart from the Oshodi Bus Terminal. The journey takes about four hours depending on traffic. That said, getting around Nigeria on public transport is not for the faint of heart, so a good tour agency can be a boon. Native Eye and Lupine Travel run scheduled trips, while Absolute Africa Tours arranges custom itineraries.

When to go: The dry season (Nov–Mar) has daytime highs of 30 to 35°C and cooler nights (20°C), but there’s no better time to visit than during August’s two-week Osun-Osogbo festival.

Accommodation: Hotels in Osogbo, range from basic stays (under £20) to jazzier complexes (from £70), often complete with large swimming pools.

Further info: Nigeria (Bradt Travel Guide; 2012) by Lizzie Williams

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