Osun river

Oṣun River

Osun River in Osogbo.
Origin 8°20′N 5°16′E / 8.333°N 5.267°E
Mouth Lekki Lagoon
6°33′48″N 4°03′43″E / 6.563210°N 4.062032°ECoordinates: 6°33′48″N 4°03′43″E / 6.563210°N 4.062032°E
Basin countries Nigeria
Location Osun State
Left tributaries Erinle River, Oba River

The Oṣun River (sometimes, but rarely spelt Oshun) is a river that flows southwards through central Yorubaland in southwestern Nigeria into the Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea. It is one of the several rivers ascribed in local mythology to have been women who turned into flowing waters after some traumatic event frightened or angered them.

Oṣun was reputedly one of the wives of Ṣango, the Yoruba god of thunder. The annual traditional worship at the Ọṣun Shrine near the Ọṣun River at Osogbo has become an important tourist attraction, drawing people from various parts of Nigeria and countries far beyond to the annual festival in August.

Osun is one of the river goddesses in Yoruba land that is noted for providing for the needs of the people. The river goddess has been able to give barren babies and change the lives of many other people.[1] And also there has been many fictional stories about goddess oshun, for example, Shegun Coker and the cursed temple by Kolawole Michael, 2008.[2]

References

  1. Katen Tate (2005). Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations. CCC Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 9781888729177.
  2. Joseph M. Murphy, Mei-Mei Sanford (2001). Osun across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas. Indiana University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780253108630.