The village of Bawomataluo has been registered as a World Heritage by UNESCO since 2009 as a cultural heritage from Indonesia. This village is a traditional village as well as a well-known cultural village in South Nias Regency, North Sumatra. To reach this village, it takes a 3 hour road trip from Gunung Sitoli to the south coast of Nias.
Bawomataluo is one of the villages in Fanayama District, South Nias Regency, North Sumatra. Later the village is better known as "The Rising Sun". The term sunrise was pinned because the village which consists of nine hamlets is located on a hill, precisely at an altitude of 400 meters above sea level. Bawomataluo village is very famous as a village of culture and tradition of hombo batu (jumping stones). Since its status as a cultural village, Bawomataluo has an annual cultural agenda known as the Bawomataluo Cultural Festival.In the Nias language, Bawomataluo means hill of the sun. So named because the village is located at an altitude of 400 meters above the hill. In this cool village, we can see many traditional houses of South Nias which are still well preserved.
It turns out that Bawomataluo Village is the capital of traditional villages scattered across Nias. That said, this village has existed since the megalithic era. The relics of that era can be seen from an ancient building and large rocks in one of the traditional houses of the King of Nias here.
Another uniqueness, this village looks like a large plot of land flattened with stones, which is filled with rows of people's houses facing each other. From the stairs to enter the village, we can immediately see rows of people's houses. Among the residents' houses, the house of the King of Nias is located on the left. Meanwhile, a row of traditional houses and a village hall are on the right.
Despite being hundreds of years old, the buildings are still intact and well preserved. The buildings were never renovated except for the roof of the house which was replaced with zinc to make it more durable.
Tourists are free of charge to enter this village. However, we must first report to the local traditional leader. From there we will be explained about the history of the traditional village. There are no special restrictions when visiting this village, other than asking for permission and dressing modestly.
Tourists must be curious when they set foot on Nias Island, North Sumatra. Visitors when they arrive at Binaka Gunung Sitoli Airport will immediately be able to see Omo hada (traditional houses), Baluse dance (war dance), and hombo batu (jumping stones) which once decorated Rupiah currency.
The daily greeting of local residents "Yaahowu" is written in large in the middle of the picture of regional officials, helping to take visitors out of Binaka Airport to the tourist village of Bawomataluo.
It took several breaths to fluently pronounce 'Bawomataluo' which in Nias language means hill of the sun, according to its location which was built on a hill with a height of 400 meters above sea level since centuries ago.
To get to the village of stone jumpers, it takes three hours from Binaka Airport in Gunung Sitoli or 40 minutes from Teluk Dalam, the capital city of South Nias Regency.
Bawomataluo village is inhabited by at least a thousand families. The people in it strongly adhere to the traditional values of their ancestors. Various cultural heritages that were once owned by the ancestors of the Nias people are still carefully preserved and cared for.
Some of them are omo hada aka traditional traditional houses made of wood but without nails, there are megalithic sites, the preservation of dances, to the stone jumping attraction or rock hombo. Not surprisingly, these attractions become a magnet for travelers to stop at this village on the hill.
The people who live in it continue to preserve the Bawomataluo culture from generation to generation, the traditional houses in it are also passed down to their children and grandchildren.
Once entering the Bawomataluo village area, visitors are generally accompanied by one of the village youths who earn their living by becoming a tour guide for the village known for its beautiful sunrise. “The best time for photos in this village is at sunrise. Later, if there is another opportunity, it will come at five in the morning, sir," said tour guide Frans.
Besides being famous for its stone jumping attraction, this village is also famous for its architecture and ancient statues. So generally the tour guide will invite visitors to surround the village. If you are lucky, there are times when traditional ceremonies take place so you can witness directly, including when one of the residents is grieving.
“Here also has a tradition of slaughtering pigs in mourning. If someone dies here, the pig is also slaughtered and distributed to all villagers,” said Frans, who explained that at that time there was a resident who had just died.
Rock Jump
After being engrossed in walking around the village with traditional houses lined up neatly surrounded by the valley, the next goal is to see the stone-jumping attraction. Frans recounted the origins of the youths in his village who were dressed as typical royal soldiers, with the typical colors of Nias, namely red, yellow, and black jumping over rocks as high as 2 meters and 40 cm thick.
“The stone-jumping starts with the condition that the village youth can join the war or not. In the past, inter-regional wars often occurred. Each area is usually fenced with bamboo as high as two meters or more. To be able to join the war and be accepted as a soldier of the king, a young man must be able to jump over the bamboo that fences the opponent's territory. In addition, young people who are able to jump over this rock are considered to have matured and physically matured,” said Frans.
If you want to witness this tradition, visitors have to pay two village youths at a rate of Rp. 150,000 for two jumps. Each youth will jump once. If there is a group of youths who offer a higher rate than that, just make a bargain because the rate from the village administrator's agreement is Rp. 150 thousand.
"They can jump 10 times a day, which is good for their daily income," said Frans.
As is known at this time, the government is proposing Bawomataluo Village as one of the world's cultural heritages with the inclusion of Bawomataluo Village in the list of world heritage sites, the number of foreign tourist visits to Nias will continue to increase.
After Bawomataluo Village became a world heritage. The promotional strategy is very easy to market, and can become one of the main destinations for tourists to Nias besides being famous for its waves.
“Saohagolo Ama and Ina, Dafalakhi sui (Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, see you later),”
