Devotees, tourists, others arrive at grand finale of Osun-Osogbo
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Scores of devotees of the Osun river deity, tourists and traditionalists thronged the Osun-Osogbo grove on Friday to participate in the grand finale of the festival.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the devotees, in white attire, were seen in large numbers within the grove, fetching water from the river with jerry cans and praying to the river goddess.
Some foreign tourists, accompanied by security personnel, could also be seen exploring the grove as they took pictures.
Traditionalists were also at the grove, performing other rituals.
Mrs. Osunfunke Egbetoogbe, an Osun devotee and Iya Osun from Mowe in Ogun, said that her coming for the festival was born out of her thirst to have a connection to the Osun goddess.
Egbetoogbe said she had been a traditionalist and Osun worshipper since 2023.
She added that she had been using the Osun water to cure and solve problems brought to her.
Egbetoogbe said that she believes in the efficacy of the Osun water, stating that it has the power to heal, regardless of its color or taste.
“The Osun water is purer than any packaged potable water. It is herbal and medicinal to cure any problem,” she said.
The event, which started on July 28, is expected to end with a young maiden, Arugba (a virgin female girl), with a calabash on her head as a symbolic sacrifice to the river goddess.
NAN reports that the Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dates back many centuries, is usually celebrated in a grove on the outskirts of Osogbo between July and August.
It is among the last of the sacred forests that adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanisation.
In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
For the people of Osogbo land, the festival represents the traditional cleansing of the town and a cultural reunion with their ancestors and the founders of the Osogbo Kingdom.
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