Sumba "The Megalithic Island"

Sumba is an island in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The area is 10,710 km2, and the highest point is Mount Wanggameti (1,225 masl). Sumba is bordered by Sumbawa to the northwest, Flores to the northeast, Timor to the east, and Australia to the south and southeast, and in the northern part of Sumba Island there is the Sumba strait. To the east lies the Savu Sea, while the Indian Ocean lies to the south and west.

Humba, as this island is called, in addition to having a vast expanse of savanna and an beatiful coastline, is also decorated with very large stones that are located between traditional villages or houses of residents from Praiyawang Traditional Village in the east to The Ratenggaro Traditional Village in the west of Sumba Island, and from the Wunga Traditional Village in the north as the oldest traditional village in Sumba, to the Prai Kajirukobu Traditional Village in the south Sumba Island.

Large stone culture (megalithic) is a grave stone, namely altar for the ancestors whose souls are believed to reside in Prai Marapu (Marapu Heaven). The indigenous people of Sumba believe that, when the owner's house is still alive, there must be a house when they die, showing the closeness between life and death. Marapu followers also have an afterlife. The stones used are usually rock with a weight of 40-70 ton. Stone removal is carried out with the ritual of pulling stones using forest ropes by hundreds, even from the people of Sumba. After the stone removal is complete, it still needs to be arranged or decorated in the form of symbols carved on the surface of the grave stone. This ornament is believed to be a letter of local wisdom for the people of Sumba. The weight of the grave stone is so large that it also gave birth to a culture of mutual cooperation among the Sumbanese indigenous people, where the movement of pulling the rock support ropes carried out in unison, looks harmonious with the singing of traditional poetry that is sung.

As a symbol of death, grave stones have meaning, the existence of grave stones is essential, even harmonized with the stages of the birth of a new human, such as burying a corpse in a sitting position like a fetus in a mother's womb. The position of the corpse that is huddled sitting is then wrapped with a large amount of woven cloth, which is believed to be a provision that will be brought to the next life.