Marapu

The Marapu religion (also known as Marafu in Sumba) is a form of ancestral religion that is practiced mainly in the island of Sumba in Indonesia as well as  remote areas of Sumba and Flores. Elements of Marapu are often integrated into Christian and Muslim belief systems that dominate these islands. Marapu has only recently become an officially sanctioned religion of Indonesia. In 2017, Indonesia's Constitutional Court decided in their favor, declaring that the earlier proscription of Marapu was discriminatory and violated the principle of equality under the law. Practitioners of Marapu who formerly identified themselves as either Christian or Muslim could now  Marapu (which means ancestors) worship the spirits of their ancestors. Followers of Marapu also beleive that life in this world is only temporary. After the end of time they will live eternally in the spirit world, in the Marapu heaven called Prai Marapu. Marapu religious ceremonies such as death ceremonies are always accompanied by the sacrifice of animals such as buffalo and horses, a hereditary tradition that continues to be honored. The Sumbanese Marapu believe that the spirits of their ancestors attend burial ceremonies. The spirit of the sacrificed animal nourishes the ancestral spirits and the flesh of the animal is consumed by the living. The enormous cost of burial ceremonies often requires that a corpse be stored in a household until sufficiant funds have been gathered. The principles derived from Marapu order life from birth to death, establishing individual and community behavior patterns to achieve balance and harmony in relation to all cosmic elements to achieve peace and prosperity. Ancestral spirits have the power to ensure cosmic well-being and balance. Marapu teachings are focused on maintaining the balance of universal life. This balance is symbolized by the Great Mother (Ina Kalada) and the Great Father (Ama Kalada) who live in the cosmos and take the forms of the moon and the sun. In the mythology of Sumba, they are husband and wife who gave birth to the ancestors of the Sumbanese. To honor Marapu, the Sumbanese place effigies called Marapu statues on stone altars where they may lay their offerings. These statues of Marapu are made of wood shaped to resemble human faces and are usually placed in the yard or in the interior of their houses.In parts of East Sumba, families continue to construct impressive, megalithic stone burial monuments. In many cases, individuals will place future generations of their family members into debt so that their remains can be entombed in the traditional manner. The erection of a tomb is preceded by months of negotiations between allied clans and villages that culminates with the gathering of hundreds of men to participate in the traditional tarik batu stone-pulling ceremony. Necessary rites include the butchering of large numbers of buffalo, cows, pigs, and sometimes horses. Nightly protection rituals are performed at the quarries where the huge stones are cut. Failure to perform any of these essential rites risks incurring the wrath of the ancestral spirits. Commentators on the 2017 court decision that officially recognized Marapu note that its adherants acknowledge a supreme god or deity, but beleive that the supreme god's transcendent nature serves to limits its effectiveness in the terrestrial realm. A more important role in the affairs of daily and religious life is fulfilled by Marapu and the spirits of the dead. The detached and disinterested nature of the Marapu supreme creator diety is a concept that is shared by many other ethnic religions, throughout the world.