sumba island
of horses and men.
One of the most culturally interesting Islands to visit in East Indonesia
The cultural life of Sumba is distinguished by spectacular rituals, huge megalithic grave sites,
unusual peaked houses, and beautiful ikat clothes.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY :
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Four Wheels Move The Body
Two Wheels Move The Soul
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Motorcycle
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Sumba Island
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Sumba Island is relatively small in the Indonesian archipelago.
The Island stretches 220 km along a northwest-southeast axis and is 40-70 km wide. I travelled in East Sumba, which is rocky and mountainous. It is great motorcycle Country. The air is warm and dry, the roads are narrow but well paved. The Countryside is spectacular. |
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A driver must watch for crossing animals: horses, bulls, cows and pigs.
Here the land is dry. Sumba is a coral reef that emerged from the sea millions of years ago.
Where the men make one with their horses.
The women have soft features, dark skin, curly hair.
Sumba coffee is powdery, dark and strong; this says something about the Island.
Religion: Animist mixed with Christian and Muslim.
Megalithic society
of horses
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Riding towards the setting sun
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Of Churches
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Catholic church of Wunga village in East Sumba
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Twenty-five to thirty percent of the population practices the animist Marapu religion. The remainder are Christian, a majority being Dutch Calvinist with a substantial minority being Roman Catholic. |
Ignatius with Carl's Leica camera
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Wunga village Is surrounded in myth and legend. According to Marapu belief, Wunga is the place from which all the people of Sumba descend. Where the ancestors came via a ladder made of buffalo horns from the sky. (reference: travelfish.org) |
In the company of descendants from the sky
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Of megalithic grave sites and peaked houses /
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Despite contact with western cultures, Sumba is one of the few places in the world where megalithic burials are used as a 'living tradition' to bury prominent individuals when they die. Burial in megaliths is a practice that was used in many parts of the world during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. It has survived to this day in Sumba and has raised significant interest from scholars. (Ref: Wiki.)
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