The Origins of Nias Stone Jumping!

Nias - Jump Stone in Nias so interesting attraction. But do you know how this tradition can exist? It turns out stone jump was once a prerequisite of the kingdom.

Traveling to South Nias do not miss a visit to Indoor Village Bawomataluo. The village, which was built around the 1830s, is located at 270 meters above sea level, the highest in South Nias. It is said that the height of this region symbolizes the power and power of the kingdom in the past.

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From Binaka Airport, Gunung Sitoli, we have to ride two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles to the south, for 2.5 hours to ***Bawomataluo Village. This village is a traditional village in South Nias and is on a rocky hill****. The entrance to the village is a stone staircase with 86 steps. Bawomataluo itself means the Sun Hill.

In the village of Bawomataluo, there is a stone jumping attraction that has been very famous, even to the state mancara. Before starting the attraction, the stone jumper must wear the royal soldier's clothes, with the distinctive colors of Nias, namely red, yellow and black.

The tradition of stone jumping or in the local language is called ****Fahombo, only for men in Nias. According to Methodius Zhagoto (20)***, the youth of Bawomataluo Village who accompanied us while witnessing this tradition, the history of stone jumping begins with the requirements of the village youth can already go to war or not.

Formerly inter-territorial wars were common. Each area is usually fenced with bamboo as high as two meters or more. To be able to go to war and be accepted as a king soldier, a young man must be able to jump over the bamboo that fence the opponent's territory. In addition, young men who are able to jump over the pile of rocks as high as 2 meters and 40 cm thick is considered to have grown and matured physically.

If you want to see this tradition, you have to pay two village youths for Rp150,000 for two jumps. Every youth will jump once. If there is a group of youth who offer higher rates than that, just bargain because the tariff of the village board deal is Rp 150.000. Unfortunately, there is no special officer guarding at the village gate.

In addition to seeing the stone jump, we can also see the custom house Omo Hada and megalithic sites are widely available in this village.