BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The 2023 edition of the annual Osun Osogbo Festival commenced on Monday with the traditional cleansing of pathways, otherwise known as Iwopopo, in Osogbo.
The event, which was held at the popular Gbaemu Junction, saw Osun devotees and chiefs paying homage to the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun, amid drumming and dancing.
The Point observed that the festival has been attracting tourists and traditionalists within Nigeria and across the globe to witness this year’s occasion.
There were cultural displays by some entertainers as residents gathered to watch the presentations.
Oba Olanipekun later led the Osogbo Cultural Heritage Council, traditional chiefs, worshippers, devotees, government officials and residents of Osogbo in a symbolic cleansing of the city.
Flanked by his queens, the monarch marched through designated routes, after which different age and social groups, communities and titled chiefs paid homage to him.
Other key activities to mark this year’s festival include the lighting of the 500-year-old 16-point lamp, called Ina Olojumerindinlogun, Iboriade, a unique assemblage and display of the crowns of the past Ataojas of Osogbo, for blessings among others.
The grand finale of the festival, according to the organisers, would be streamed live for local and international audience of Osogbo indigenes, Osun devotees, worshippers and Yoruba culture enthusiasts in diaspora.
Security operatives barricaded roads leading to the palace vicinity at Oja-Oba area, and diverted vehicular movement to alternative routes.
