Bawomataluo
A Megalithic Hilltop Village On Nias Reached By A Stone Stairway, Where Young Men Still Perform Fahombo, The Stone Jump Over A Two Metre Pillar · Teluk Dalam, North Sumatra
Bawomataluo stands on a hilltop in southern NIAS, reached by a STONE STAIRWAY OF ABOUT NINETY STEPS, and it was built on a hill for the reason hill villages usually are: NIAS PRACTISED WARFARE AND HEADHUNTING between fortified settlements, and height was defence. Along a paved avenue stand rows of OMO HADA, timber houses on massive posts, and at the centre the OMO SEBUA, the chief's house, one of the largest traditional structures in Indonesia. MEGALITHIC STONE SEATS AND MONUMENTS stand in the plaza between them. AND THEN THERE IS FAHOMBO - the stone jump, in which a young man clears a stone pillar around two metres high from a standing run. IT WAS TRAINING FOR STORMING A VILLAGE WALL. It is now performed for visitors, and it is on the Indonesian tentative list for UNESCO. Nias also has some of the best right-hand surf in Asia an hour away at Sorake, which is why most foreign visitors to the island have never heard of the village on the hill above them.
Bawomataluo, Fanayama, South Nias, North Sumatra, Teluk Dalam, North Sumatra, Indonesia
THE VILLAGE IS A LIVING SETTLEMENT, not a site - there is no gate and no opening time, but A LOCAL CONTRIBUTION IS EXPECTED and is collected in the village. FAHOMBO, THE STONE JUMP, IS NOT PERFORMED ON A SCHEDULE: it is ARRANGED IN ADVANCE THROUGH A GUIDE OR GUESTHOUSE and paid for, since the jumpers are being asked to come and perform. Turning up and expecting to see it will not work. NIAS IS REACHED BY FLIGHTS INTO GUNUNGSITOLI from Medan or by ferry from Sibolga, and BAWOMATALUO IS ABOUT THREE HOURS BY ROAD SOUTH toward TELUK DALAM. WAR DANCES AND OTHER PERFORMANCES are arranged the same way. PHOTOGRAPHY OF PEOPLE SHOULD BE ASKED FOR. The 2005 Nias earthquake damaged traditional houses across the island and restoration is ongoing.