Sumba, a Dynamic Mystery
Story and Photos by Ferry R. Tan
CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS OF WORSHIP
The Wulla Poddu Festival
One of the customs in which I was fortunate enough to be present is the Wulla Poddu. Many rituals are performed during the festival, which takes place every year between the last full moon in October and the next full moon in November. Wulla Poddu is only celebrated by tribes from the western part of Sumba. The purpose is to ask ancestral blessings as a means of thanks for according to the myth - it is man and woman who gave birth to the ancestors of the Sumbanese.
In the month of the Wulla Poddu, there is a lot of hunting for wild boar. The hunting result is then given to the Rato, who in turn recites his prayers. The kill of the first wild boar usually indicates the harvest. A male boar predicts good crops while a pregnant female boar is the harbinger of a bad harvest. The bite of a boar predicts rat plague. During the harvest month, the young men undergo a circumcision process. They are then banned for several days in the wild to learn to live independently as a sign of maturity.
This year, Wulla Poddu was held in Waitabar and its neighboring village of Tarung. Villagers from surround would come to join the occasion. The mood was festive, and the people dressed in bright colored clothing. It is the holy month with many rituals in West Sumba. The name Wulla Poddu is a compound word derived from the Sanskrit words, Wulla and Poddu, respectively meaning moon and bitter. Bitter, probably because there are restrictions and rules to abide during the month.
The PASOLA Festival
Another traditional custom I had the chance to testify was the Pasola in the village of Wanukaka, Western Sumba. The Pasola is a mock spear fight competition that is performed by riders on horsebacks throwing wooden spears at the opponent while riding his horse. The Pasola is an annual event held as a means to celebrate the rice plant season. The game is played by two different groups of men from different clans or tribes. The horses used for this ritual are usually ridden by selected brave and skillful men who wear traditional costumes.
Legend has it that Pasola arose from a folktale about a woman from the village of Waiwuang. This woman was the wife of a local leader who seems to be very popular with his people. When this leader left home for a long time, she assumed he was dead and left with another man from another village. One day her husband returned, but the woman chose to stay with her new lover and the two married. To share the suffering of their beloved leader, the people of Waiwuang held the feast of Pasola to help him forget his grief.
Pasola comes from Sanskrit Sola, meaning a kind of long wooden stick that horse - riders from two hostile groups use as a spear to throw at each other. After it was given the prefix Pa, it became a game. Pa or Pe stands for the person, who has the skill to throw the spear, hence the word Pa-Sola. Pasola is worth watching because there are religious elements closely related to it.
The islanders believe that the rituals connected to Pasola control the behavior and habits of the people so that a balance can be found between the physical and mental. In other words, it is assumed that the ritual is capable of crystallizing the habit and the opinion of the people so that they can live happily both on earth and in heaven.
This balance is symbolized by the Great Mother and the Great Father who live in the universe and take the forms of the moon and the sun and who are the Supreme Beings and Creators / Weavers of human life. The Sumbanese believe in temporal life in the world and eternal life in the Doomsday, the world of spirits in the air of Marapu.
Mythology has it that it is man and woman who gave birth to the ancestors of the Sumbanese. This mythology can be found reflected in the textiles of Sumba. Because they are the products of Sumbanese women, they are understood as the tangible representations of the female element of the bipartite universe.
In the past, Pasola was a bloody ritual, but since 2010 it has become a game that is only played for entertainment. Traditionally it starts when the nyale, a type of sea worm, swims ashore, a phenomenon that indicates the end of the wet and the beginning of the planting season. Today the elders determine the date in advance for tourists. The Pasola is always held every year in four villages for four weeks in February and March.
Mai La Humba!
Photography is my work
And travel is my game
They are the reason why I survive
In my Body and in my Mind
My work brings the food to my table
...and pays for my game
And my game brings the food for my soul
Therefore, I am my work and my game
Ferry R. Tan – 2020
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