Oyotunji Village

On thursday, September 29^th we visited the Oyotunji village in Beaufort. It was founded in the 1970’s and the idea was to create an African village, which follows the lifestyle and culture of Yoruba customs and traditions. Baba was our guide there, he showed us all the altars and temples of the Yoruba gods, which were decorated by sacrifices like alcohol, essences and items related to the assignment s of the gods. Each temple was created in relation to the characteristics of the god.  Baba talked to us about the Yoruba culture and the life in Oyotunji village. But what was most impressive about the guided tour was his way of philosophizing about his life there, his culture and life as such. He was able to make us understand by comparing the Yoruba traditions to the modern globalized world. Such a way of presenting the story made me hang on his lips while we walked through the village. Furthermore he introduced us to the king of the village H.R.M. Oba Adegbolu Adefunmi II. It became interesting to see how the sacred world goes along with the profane world when a woman came yelling towards Baba to make him collect the admission fee from us or when we walked over their own market place where they sold  essential oils, virtu and medicinal herbs. It was extremely interesting and enhancing to visit the village, since I’ve heard so much about the Yoruba culture at University before, it was the first time I practically got in touch with a subject I only had the chance to study theoretically before.
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For those who are interested in getting to know more about the Oyotunji village here is the link:

http://www.oyotunjiafricanvillage.org/  J