Ẹ káàbọ̀! Welcome to the Sacred Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves

Dedicated to Ọ̀ṣun, the deity of fertility, the Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves are a very important sacred site for followers of traditional Yorùbá religion in the world. Their cultural heritage extends across West Africa to Benin and Togo and beyond to Brazil, the Caribbean and the USA.

Designated for its living cultural heritage and the shrines and monumental sculptures dedicated to Yorùbá deities, created by the artists of the New Sacred Art Movement. 

In the past all Yorùbá towns had their own sacred forest. The Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves cover 75 hectares and are the only one of this size remaining. They were saved through the dedicated effort of its spiritual leaders and a movement of artists called the New Sacred Art Movement.

According to the story of the town’s creation, the goddess Ọ̀ṣun formed a pact with the mythical founder of Òṣogbo, Lákọkan, that it should not be built on the riverbank but some distance away, leaving the groves as her sacred domain.

In the late 1950s, Ọ̀ṣun’s high priestess asked initiated priestess and artist Susanne Wenger, who lived in Òṣogbo, to help repair and protect the main Ọ̀ṣun shrine in the groves. Austrian born Wenger was already an accomplished artist in Europe before coming to Nigeria in 1950.

Susanne Wenger mentored a group of Òṣogbo artists who – over more than six decades – created shrines, gates, boundary walls and awe-inspiring sculptures, all dedicated to Yorùbá deities.

Many of the artists and artisans worked together for decades from the 1960s. There were about twelve core artists of the New Sacred Art Movement.
Adebisi Akanji and Susanne Wenger worked together continuously for more than forty years!

Through their efforts the site was declared a National Monument in 1965, making hunting, fishing and logging prohibited in order to protect all living beings. The flora and fauna of the Ọ̀ṣun Groves are unique and include over 400 species of plants and trees. 

By preserving the shrines and the Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves, cultural traditions were reinforced. The shrines are visited daily by their designated priests and priestesses as well as by many devotees.

The annual Ọ̀ṣun Festival celebrates the original pact of the goddess Ọ̀ṣun with all her devotees and the King of Òṣogbo, the Atáọ́ja.
The festival attracts tens of thousands of people from Nigeria and across the globe. Ọ̀ṣun festivals are replicated in cities around the world.

Maintenance and restoration are the main issues in keeping this important site preserved for Yorùbá devotees and visitors.
Since 2006, more than eighty shrines, sculptures and monuments have been restored by twenty-two members of the Restoration Team.

The Adunni Olorisha Trust / Adunni Osun Foundation (AOT/F) was first formed in 1998 to support the work of the original artists in the groves. Now this has been passed on to a talented restoration team led by the next generation of artists and enabled by the AOT/F.