Ọbatala

Obatala is an orisha in the Yoruba religion that is believed to have been given the task to create the Earth but failed the task by being drunk on palm wine and was outperformed by his little brother Oduduwa. He was instead given the job of creating humans beings. This was authorized by his father, Olodumare which gave Obatala the name sculptor of mankind.

"Now Olodumare [the supreme being] once called on Obatala and told him that he would love him to assist in creating human beings that would live in the world he was about to create. This is because as he (Olodumare) said further he would not like the world he was planning to create to exist without human beings."

Obatala had worked on his task with the assistance of Osun. He is believed to be successful at creating human beings with water and clay, but during the creation phase he had become drunk with palm wine due to thirst. This caused him to create human beings with disabilities. When he became sober and saw his mistake, he vowed to never drink again and reinvented himself as "The Great White God", protector of people with disabilities. Due to this reinvention, he was given ascendance over human beings.  

According to the oral traditions of Ife, the mortal Obatala was the founder and king of Ife during its classical period. His position as the King was challenged by Oduduwa who assumed leadership of the town for a brief moment. However, Obatala was able to emerge victorious in the contest and it led to the murder of his rival Oduduwa and the retrieval of his throne.

While there exists an Obatala in the Yoruba pantheon, the understanding of the qualities of the Obatala god was merged into the human Obatala that ruled in Ife upon his posthumous deification. Thus, the human Obatala who was the king at Ife was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of the primordial divinity of the same name.