The story
Pasola Sumba in West Sumba
Pasola is a set of separately timed mock-battle rituals across West Sumba's Kodi, Lamboya, Wanukaka, and Gaura districts, rooted in indigenous Marapu belief. Mounted riders throw blunted spears called hola or pasola at rival clans, timed by traditional priests, or rato, who read lunar signs and the arrival of nyale sea worms roughly six to eight days after the full moon, generally in February or March.
Pasola is not one single event but a set of separately timed mock-battle rituals staged across the Kodi, Lamboya, Wanukaka, and Gaura districts of West Sumba, each following its own local calendar rather than a shared regional schedule.