🌿 Sumba Cosmology (Marapu Belief)

This 2 meters handwoven Sumba ikat features This handwoven Sumba ikat in natural beige reflects “Ina Tana”—Mother Earth. Its quiet, grounded colour draws from the land itself, undyed and elemental, carrying a sense of calm, origin, and connection to the earth from which all life is held.Sumba’s traditional worldview is rooted in Marapu, an ancestral belief system that connects humans, nature, and spirits as one living universe.

Within this cosmology, the world is understood as both the upper realm—home to ancestors and the divine—and the earthly realm of people, animals, and land. These realms are not separate, but in constant relationship.

Ancestors remain present, guiding and protecting the living, while animals such as horses, chickens, and birds are more than physical beings—they carry symbolic and spiritual meaning.

Life, in this understanding, is about maintaining balance and respect between all parts of this living world.