The Pasola is held each year on the island of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. The name comes from the word ola or hola, meaning "spear". Two opposing teams vie to throw spears while racing on small horses. The contest is held in an open field, witnessed by local people and both domestic and foreign tourists.
The Pasola is part of a series of Sumbanese ritual related to the animist belief Marapu. The critical ceremony is the Nyale, the gathering of sea worms; this is followed by the Pasola.
Slaughtering chickens and making ketupat (rice cooked in woven coconut leaves) are other essential aspects of this series of rituals, held in several locations on Sumba, including Wanukaka. These auguries foretell the fate of those who will take part in the Pasila. If a chicken continues to bleed from its intestines or if any of the cooked ketupat are reddish or brownish, these are held to b bead signs, indicating that family members taking part in the Pasola may be injured or even killed.
In the evening, community leaders observe the appearance of the full moon and pray facing in the direction of the full moon. From this, they can determine the precise position of the moon and the presence of waves along the coast, indicating that Nyale season has come. When conditions are right, sea worms - nyale - appear in great numbers, making hem easy to catch, so the villagers assemble and start hunting the nyale.
The annual appearance of the nyale is then celebrated through the Pasola ceremony. The Nyale and Pasola rituals are based on several local folk tales. One was about three brothers from Waiwuang village who went to sea for many months. One of he wives was sure they had died, and so she remarried. When the fishermen returned (still alive), her husband felt insulted. But the problem was amicably resolved by setting several requirements for the woman and her new husband; one was that they had to offer a bunch of live sea worms. So every year, the people of Sumba hunt nyale, and follow this with the Pasola celebration.
Hundred of participants, from many villages throughout Sumba, are involved in the Pasola. The games start when the prefix pa is added, giving the words pa-hola. The spectators are always very excited when watching the spears flying, and they have to take care not to be hit themselves if one goes astray.
Spectators, including the womenfolk related to the competing teams, cheer on the competitors; the cheering itself is another major attraction of the ceremony. The contest has no set rules; basically, each player has the right to focus on anyone from the opposite team and try to unhorse him. Players can only attack from his horse. However, even those who have been unhorsed stay in the Pasola until it ends, provided they have the stamina. These days, the competitions last for about three hours, though in the past they continued much longer.
As well as being skilled at throwing a spear while riding a horse, a Pasola participant needs to be mentally prepared for possible injury or even death. Although there is no genuine hostility involved, the Pasola is a serious sport. The more people injured, the better the spectators like it; the blood is believed to make the soil fertile, bringing abundant harvest later in the year. Thus, some blood must always be spilled in each year's Pasola.
