Erin Ijesha Waterfall: Tourist Destination in Osun State

Erin Ijesha waterfall Location

Erin Ijesha Waterfall, also known as Olumirin Waterfall, is located in the heart of Erin-Ijesha, a quiet town in Osun State, Nigeria. The amazing waterfall attracts over 30,000 visitors from different parts of the globe every year.

During the celebration of the popular Osun-Osogbo festival, Erin Ijesha waterfall receives a higher number of visitors than the usual. Most visitors, after the festival, stop at the waterfall to have a taste of the natural and pleasant feelings it gives.

Erin Ijesha Waterfall gate fee

Erin Ijesha waterfall gate fee is N500 which does not include a guide’s fee. Olumirin Waterfall has seven layers beautifully and artistically positioned above one another with water flowing among the rocks which then plummet down to the base with a resounding roar. The sound of the cascading waters blends with the natural and idyllic environment of the waterfall and has always tourists amazed.

Rock climbing at Olumirin Waterfall

Another exhilarating part of a visit to the Erin Ijesha waterfall is rock climbing. Each of the seven layers is spiced with irresistible beauty and perfection that makes one admit that nature is life.

According to the history of Erin Ijesha, a daughter of Oduduwa and the founder of Erin Ijesha town named Akinla discovered the waterfall in the 1140 AD during the migration of the natives from Ile-Ife to their present location. The natives see Olumirin waterfall as sacred and a source of purification to the soul, body and mind.

History of Erin Ijesha

The great Akinla was the first daughter and a princess of Oduduwa, father of the Yorubas, who left Ile-Ife in the 12th century during the tumultuous years that witnessed the dispersal of all heirs and heiresses of Oduduwa.

Oral history has it that the founding of Erin was as a result of a disagreement over the custody of a religious symbol called Iro, a Yoruba goddess of fertility and procreation which was used by Oduduwa to pray for his children. An argument had ensued at Ile-Ife which led to a near-violent disagreement on who was to be the custodian of the religious effigy and emblem, ‘Iro’.

This was at a time that Oduduwa, due to old age no longer administered his kingdom physically. During this acrimony, Princess Akinla claimed exclusive right to the custody, being the only daughter and eldest child of Oduduwa.

The resultant squabble forced her to depart Ile-Ife with a group of loyalists to a place where she could live in relative calm and serenity. The group first settled at a place called Ugbo-Oja, which can be found today at Iperindo/Odo area in the present-day Atakunmosa East Local Government Area of Osun State. After a short stay at ‘Ugbo-Oja’, they discovered they could not settle there permanently as there was scarcity of water.

Hence, they continued the search northwards to find a better place that they could settle and particularly a place that would have easy access to water. After a long period of search, they discovered a ceaseless waterfall from the hills that presented an aerie and fearful picture initially to the search group; and they described it as ‘Olumirin or Oluwa miran’, meaning another goddess, because the people marvelled at this type of ‘mystery’. They eventually settled there, worshipping it as another goddess apart from Iro. It is believed that the waterfall brings protection, rain, purity of mind and soul, and freedom from diseases.

Princess Akinla and her group journeyed for seventeen (17) days through thick forest and mountainous areas from the day they started off in Ile-Ife in search of new settlement to find the new abode of waterfalls called Olumirin. That was why that new place of abode was named “Erin-Itadogun”, that is, the place of the seventeenth day journey, coined from Yoruba words, irin Itadogun (seventeenth day trek). Erin-Itadogun, which is today known as Erin-Ijesa, was founded circa 1140AD.

A tour around Nigeria without a visit to the Erin Ijesha Waterfalls will remain incomplete as it remains one of the best tourist destinations in Nigeria.