The reason I went to Sumba was that I was invited by David Mawo Adung the son of one of the leaders of Weetabara village, which is a part of Tarung village. I came for Wulla Podu, "the Sacred Month", a time when 20 -30 separate celebrations are held. The only problem was that nobody knew the exact date when Wulla Podu would start as it depends on the moon. It starts from the time the moon appears in the sky till it disappears a month later. As my time was limited (due to a funeral...
more »The reason I went to Sumba was that I was invited by David Mawo Adung the son of one of the leaders of Weetabara village, which is a part of Tarung village. I came for Wulla Podu, "the Sacred Month", a time when 20 -30 separate celebrations are held. The only problem was that nobody knew the exact date when Wulla Podu would start as it depends on the moon. It starts from the time the moon appears in the sky till it disappears a month later. As my time was limited (due to a funeral in Egypt) we had to sort of guess when to go and cross our fingers. Even when we arrived they still did not know the date. The sky had been overcast and they could not see the moon. But it appeared we came only 2 days too early.
Due to circumstances we could not stay the entire month but I was happy to spend a very full week in Weetabara and Tarung. We slept in the village and my husband and I were greeted with a "Nubba Ceremony" when the ancestor spirits were advised of our visit we were adopted into the tribe...a magic experience. We listened to the long poetic speech of the priest speaking to the ancestors and received the traditional welcome gift, 'kolaka'. Both of us were given traditional sarongs,but the best part was the warmth and love of the people.
Weetabara | Tarung Village | Sumba, Indonesia 2011.
©Ingetje Tadros
www.ingetjetadros.com
(text David Mitchell)
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Ingetje Tadros