Shango, also known as Chango, is a significant god in the Yoruba religion of southwestern Nigeria. He is known as Esango in the religions of the Nigerian Edo.
He is known as Sogbo or Ebioso to the Fon people of Benin. It is important to note that Shango, like all Yoruba gods, is both an ancestor who has been deified and an elemental force who has been imbued with supernatural powers.
Shango is connected to fire and lightning, two natural energies. His most notable ceremonial emblem is the oshe, a double-headed battle-ax. Shango statues frequently depict the oshe emerging directly from the top of his head, implying that fighting and the death of adversaries are his primary characteristics.
Shango’s priesthood also uses the oshe. Priests protect themselves by holding a wooden oshe near to their chests or swinging it in a wide chest-high arc while dancing.
Shango, as the wielder of thunder and lightning, defeats adversaries and defends against all evil. the lightning god dispels curses, hexes, and bad spells.
Shango revels in battles, athletic competitions, martial arts, and dancing. Shango, the family’s ancestor, was the fourth monarch of Oyo. The oral tradition described him as powerful. His voice was described as thunderous, and they said he spat fire when he spoke.
A subordinate chief challenged his rule and the majority of the people were impressed by the subordinate’s magical exploits and left Shango after his rule was challenged. Shango left Oyo and committed himself by hanging himself because he was defeated before his subjects.
His ardent devotees, on the other hand, claimed that he went to the heavens on a chain. They said that his disappearance was due to his metamorphosis into an orisha, rather than his death.
Shango’s followers soon gained acceptance for their cult in Oyo’s religious and political systems, and the Shango religion became an important part of the kings’ installation when Oyo became the center of a vast empire that included most of the other Yoruba kingdoms, as well as the Edo and Fon, both of whom adopted Shango worship into their religions and continued to practice it even after leaving Oyo’s jurisdiction, the cult expanded globally.
Shango chose the bata drum as the one-of-a-kind drum to accompany him throughout his reign. The thunder and lightning god utilized bata drums to call storms, and his worshippers still use them to this day.