Vunja Ada Mpae, Local Wisdom of Toro Village Community

Helloindonesia.id – The indigenous people of the archipelago still adhere to the traditions and culture as well as the cultural heritage of their ancestors. Both from the pattern of life and from various traditional rituals. Ngata Toro is a traditional village that still adheres to the traditions of its ancestors. Ngata Toro or Toro Village is a village located near Lore Lindu National Park, precisely in Kulawi District, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi. This village is famous for its superior rice varieties such as Kamba rice and Kanari rice.

According to the confession of one of the traditional elders, the people of Toro Village have always depended on two moral values ​​for their lives, namely hintuvua and katuvua. Hintuvua are moral values ​​in building relationships between human beings based on mutual love, respect, solidarity, and deliberation. Meanwhile, katuvua are ideal values ​​about the pattern of relationships between humans and their environment which are based on the harmony of life patterns with nature.

Based on these two moral values, it is not wrong if Toro Village has good harvests so that it becomes a rice granary for Sigi Regency. Moreover, the rice from this village is known to have good quality.

To express their gratitude for the abundant harvest, the people of Toro Village have a traditional ritual related to the harvest day called vunja ada mpae. This ceremony is usually done before the harvest.

The ritual of Vunja ada mpae begins with a conversation between village elders and the people who are authorized to plan all activities related to agriculture, known as Tina Ngata. The people who are members of tina ngata are those who have knowledge of astrology, so that they can be a guide in deciding various matters related to agriculture, field processing, and rice fields.

The results of the discussion between the traditional elders and Tina Ngata were then distributed to the village community. After the news of the Vunja Ada mpae celebration was spread in the community, then the traditional elders and Tina Ngata met again to determine the day of the celebration.

After the day of celebration has been determined, the maeko is carried out. Maeko is an event that invites people from neighboring villages to take part in the Vunja Ada mpae celebration. Maeko is one of the implementations of the hintuvu values ​​taught by the ancestors of Toro Village in social life.

Vunja ada mpae celebrations are generally held in the field. In the middle of the field, a traditional building called a lobo is made. Lobo are bamboos that are shaped in such a way as to place various village crops.

At this celebration, the villagers rejoice in enjoying the available dishes, in the form of cakes and garden produce. The Vunja ada mpae celebration is also a means for the community to mingle with traditional elders – who wear clothes made of bark called mbesa.

In the next stage, traditional elders will lead prayers as an expression of gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Followed by the beating of giam (drums) followed by the appearance of the raego dancers. Raego dance is a sacred dance that is only performed during the Vunja Ada mpae celebration. This dance is accompanied by music that comes from the beat of drums and guitar instruments. Between the music, there are poems that contain gratitude and joy.

Vunja ada mpae is a traditional ceremony that is closely related to the characteristics of the agrarian society of the archipelago. The celebration of the harvest is a representation of the local wisdom of the Toro Village community towards nature and fellow humans. In addition, it is also an expression of gratitude to God for the abundant harvest.

source : indonesiakaya.com