Get to know the story
of the Oduduwa Temple
of the Òrìsà

foto de baba king

Prof. Dr. Bàbá King

Recognized for his pioneering work, Bàbá King has been disseminating the traditional knowledge of the Yoruba people to thousands of people in various countries, including Brazil, Nigeria, Slovenia, Spain, and Portugal.
Bàbá King arrived in Brazil in the 1980s through an agreement signed between USP (University of São Paulo) and Itamaraty (the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs). In Brazil, he began his studies with a Portuguese language course and later earned a degree in Business Administration. After that, he completed his Master’s and PhD degrees in Sociology at USP, with research that resulted in the works Ogum: dor e júbilo nos rituais de morte [*Ogum: Pain and Joy in Death Rituals] and Poemas de Ifá e valores de conduta social entre os Yoruba da Nigéria [Ifá Poems and Values ​​of Social Conduct Among the Yoruba of Nigeria].
In the late 1980s, he founded the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà, ​​the Oduduwa Cultural Center, and the Oduduwa Publishing House. Bàbá King’s commitment to research was not limited to his time at USP: his teachings and publications were — and continue to be — constantly enriched by traditional Yoruba knowledge acquired during countless research and study trips in Africa.
imagem de uma oferenda imagem de uma oferenda

Religious
Activities

Bàbá King has already conducted over 20,000 oracular consultations using the ẹ́rìndílógún, the divination with sixteen cowries, and several thousand spiritual works, such as ebo rituals, bọri rituals, offerings to the òrìsà, and initiations. He is the main link to the Yoruba priests who come to Brazil annually to, together with him, perform the initiations of thousands of Òrìsà devotees. He leads the Òrìsà worship sessions at the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà, ​​among them Ìyámi Òṣòròngà, Egúngún, and Ifá Ọ̀rúnmìlà. He is a pioneer in bringing back the practice of worshipping Ifá Ọ̀rúnmìlà and Ìyámi Òṣòròngà by bringing to Brazil bàbáláwo Fábùnmi Sówùnmí (in memoriam) and ìyálórìṣà Obimonure Asabi Diyaolu (in memoriam). He has followers in Brazil, Nigeria, Spain, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, England, Canada, Australia, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the United States, and other countries. He has taught courses on the divination with cowries to over 10,000 people and courses on Ifá to hundreds of others.

background

Mission

The Oduduwa Cultural Center and the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà are two partner organizations with multiple purposes in the fields of Education, Culture, and Religion. Working in constant cooperation, both aim to promote religious exchange; offer courses on the Yoruba language, culture, and especially its traditional religion; create spaces for scholars and devotees of religions of African origin to meet; propose and develop research and social intervention projects; and disseminate information resulting from these initiatives.
Teaching, research, and publications take place at the Oduduwa Cultural Center in São Paulo. Religious practices, the promotion of religious exchange, support for religious initiatives, and community service are mainly conducted at the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà in the municipality of Mongaguá, on the coast of São Paulo state.

Why Oduduwa?

Oduduwa is the mythical patriarch of the Yoruba people, considered the “first occupant of a previously uninhabited land.” Also called Oodua or Odudua, a name whose meaning is “The Great One who created existence,” according to mythical narratives, he and his retinue of explorers were the survivors of a flood. So, the ancients called them ooye, that is, those who were saved. Oral narratives agree that Oduduwa and his followers settled in Ilé-Ifé, where he became the first ooni (king), a city considered the spiritual homeland of the Yoruba and the place where the creation of the world is said to have occurred. Even though it is impossible to pinpoint his exact origin or separate his mythical deeds from the real ones, all Yoruba traditions point to him as the great patriarch of that people. Local kings, who govern subgroups, consider themselves their direct descendants, which constitutes and legitimizes their royalty, maintained through a system of succession unchanged for millennia.
background

Brief History

Bàbá King has been working as a priest in Brazil since 1983. In the late 1980s, he began bringing to the country bàbáláwo Fábùnmi Sówùnmí, central to the revival of the Ifá Ọ̀rúnmìlà worship in Brazil, and ìyálórìṣà Obimonure Asabi Diyaolu, responsible for initiations in Ìyámi Òṣòròngà.

The work of these two pioneers was fundamental to the history of the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà. The temple’s own headquarters were inaugurated in 2003 in the city of Mongaguá, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Created to be the main partner of the Oduduwa Cultural Center, this large temple – with 6,300 square meters of land and over 2,500 square meters of built area – is located near the sea, in accordance with the oracular guidance of Ifá.

Many years ago, when the late bàbáláwo Fábùnmi Sówùnmí stated that the headquarters of the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà would be the length of a street, many did not take him seriously. Today, the priest’s prediction has come true.

Architectural Project

The architectural design of the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà, ​​ by architects Anália Amorim, Tânia Vargas, and Luis Antonio P. L. de Faria e Silva, in addition to enhancing the beauty of the São Paulo coastline, is characterized by its extraordinary artistic originality. After construction, its walls and columns were adorned with sculptures carved from noble materials, some measuring over three meters, created by Akanji Adebisi and Adesisa Nurudeen Adebisi, the same African artists who built the temple of Ọ̀ṣun in Osogbo, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
background

The Oduduwa Family

An Africa on Brazilian soil
The undeniable international renown of the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà is evident in the frequent presence of Africans, Europeans, Americans, and Caribbeans within its walls. During the most popular annual festivals, the 6,300-square-meter grounds seem too small to accommodate the number of worshippers, who often exceed 1,000. The temple boasts qualified human resources and a multidisciplinary team of experienced professionals. Within its walls, oracular consultations, initiation processes, and other religious rituals are performed.

Oduduwa - a temple that brings people together
Many priests whose spiritual origins lie in Candomblé and Umbanda have chosen our temple for further initiations, to deepen their knowledge and spiritual strength, and to make it their spiritual reference. These priests have been doing valuable work, of great importance to Brazil, alongside Bàbá King and the Yoruba priests he brings here, in preserving the tradition of the òrìsà in our country. The Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà is the main house where its own disciples can receive various special initiations.

Be one of us! Visit!

The Oduduwa Family

Òrìsà worshipped

With locations in Nigeria, Brazil, Slovenia, and Portugal, the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà is led by Bàbá King, a priest, teacher, and researcher of the Yoruba language, culture, and traditional religion. The temple traditionally reveres the òrìsà and reproduces ancient rituals.
Oduduwa worships a wide variety of òrìsà, ​​many of whom were introduced or spread in Brazil and Europe by Oduduwa itself. There are annual initiation seasons in Brazil and Nigeria, with the participation of dozens of Yoruba priests highly specialized in òrìsà such as Èṣù, Ọbalúwayé, Ọ̀ṣun, Oyá, Ṣàngó, Ọbàtálá, Ajé, Ẹgbẹ́, Èṣùmàrè, Ọmọlu, Egúngún, Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ̀, Ìyámi Òṣòròngà, Àjàgùnmàlè, Ọṣè, Olójó, Oké, Èla, Eiye, and Ọ̀ṣùpá, among many others.
Some of these initiations can only be performed in Nigeria, due to specific requirements and ritualistic characteristics that need the original traditional context.

Learn below about the òrìsà worshipped by Oduduwa, their àṣẹ, and their main individual characteristics:

Priests

Priests and priestesses in memoriam

A tribute to all the African priests and priestesses who have passed on to the ancestral world, to those who were part of the Oduduwa Temple in Nigeria but were not in Brazil.

Thanks to Pai Caamaño

Pai Caamaño was one of the main friends of the Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà. On his spiritual journey, this gentleman traveled through many countries until he met Bàbá King in 1992, who initiated him in Nigeria. He built his temple in Galicia, becoming the first to spread the worship of the òrìsà in Spain, where he welcomed, healed, and guided thousands of people, helping them improve their lives with the àṣẹ of the òrìsà.
Convinced that he should serve the òrìsà and their worshippers, this gentleman believed that whoever reveres the òrìsà has nothing to lose, but, on the contrary, gains much. Following the example of Èṣù, constantly repeating that the more one shares, the more one obtains, Pai Caamaño sought to repay by increasing the good he received. He had the generosity to finance the construction of Oduduwa Temple of the Òrìsà’s headquarters in Mongaguá.

The Oduduwa Family reveres your Ori, Pai Caamaño, beloved son, friend, and brother!
foto de Pai Caamaño