Leila Abdullah E. Abraeu grew up in Benin, and as a little girl, went to visit this famous Vodun temple.

My first fresh memory, I probably was the age of maybe 9 or 10.

And when I went there, it's because my dad had friends visiting from Europe.

And it was an opportunity for us to go and show them part of Benin.

And that was one of the places he always ensured that any person we have coming to visit goes to see because it leaves an impression on it.

It leaves an impression because this isn't your typical temple.

This is the temple of pythons, a 300-year-old temple that is a spiritual home to practitioners

of Oduan, an African spiritual system whose roots go back thousands of years.

The temple is also home to dozens of actual pythons.

My name is Baudelaire, and this is Atlas of Skira, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible, and wondrous places.

Today, we're going to southern Benin, to the city of Wieda, to hear the story of the Temple of Pythons,

and clear up some misconceptions about one of the world's most misunderstood spiritual systems.

More, after this. Thank you. Layla Abdullah Abraouh started a blog about Benin and its culture in 2014,

and one of the places she featured was the Temple of Pythons, which is why I called her up.

Before we even got to talking about the temple or at snakes, she gave me some context about Ouida.

He has more like a farm setting that is a little bit modernized just because a lot of people

tend to go and visit it.

So they've made enough a good amount of money from tourism.

When I grew up, they were in hotels back then.

This would have been back in the 80s and 90s.

Back then, Layla's family made yearly trips to Wida from her hometown of Kotonou, Benin's largest city.

Layla's parents were adamant.

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