The Pasola Festival is an original war
ritual for giving thanks to the ancestral spirits in the region of West
Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. Therefore two groups of 25 men each, mostly
from the upper and the lower village, are fighting each other while
riding horses and throwing their wooden spears toward the opponent. The
initiating prayer is lead by the Rato, a traditional priest, and after
he threw symbolically his spear between the groups, the “war-game”
immediately starts. The selected proud Sumbanese men and also their
horses are wearing traditional and colorful clothes during this
ceremony.
This festival is held every year in
February and March in Kodi and Lamboya, unfortunately the exact dates
not predictable, because it is decided by the Rato and announced only
one or two weeks before.
The word Pasola derives from Sola or
Hola, which means a kind of a long wooden stick used as spear. The
Sumbanese people believe that the festival creates a balance between
material and spiritual needs in order to live happily in earth and in
heaven. It contains also a sacrificial thought so that a certain
bloodshed is considered to be essential. Pasola is usually the climax of
a whole series of activities to celebrate the feast Nyale. Pasola is
believed to be the order of the ancestral population of adherent Marapu
and expresses the essence of religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment