Kelimutu Three Colored Crater Lakes: Ritual of Providing Ancestral Offerings

The Pati Ka Du'a Bapu Ata Mata ritual is a ceremony to give offerings or to feed the spirits of the ancestors on Mount Kelimutu. This ritual is carried out by the people of the Lio Tribe who inhabit the area around Mount Kelimutu. They believe that the first crater, Tiwu Ata Bupu, is the place where the spirits of parents who have always done good in their lives, while in the second crater, Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri is the home of the spirits of young people whose lives are full of happiness, and the third crater, Tiwu Ata Polo, is the dwelling place for the spirits of people who during their lifetime always do evil.

The people of Lio believe that the Three Craters of Lake Kelimutu are the eternal abode of every Lio soul who has died. It is there where they rest or meditate forever.

The Pati Ka Du'a Bapu Ata Mata ceremony is a special post-harvest ritual (Pati Ka means feeding) to the ancestral spirits who are believed to inhabit the three Craters of Kelimutu Lake: Tiwu Ata Bupu, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Ko'o Fai and Tiwu Ata Polo. This ritual is a form of communication and an effort to establish a harmonious relationship between human beings who are still living roaming the earth with their ancestors, with the universe and with the power of the Almighty.

The Pati Ka ceremony is usually held on August 14, which is the culmination of a series of activities for the Kelimutu Lake Festival Week. This ceremony is usually attended by Mosalaki from 20 traditional alliances in the supporting villages of Kelimutu, including Ko'a Nara, Wolo Ara, Pemo, Nua Muri, Mbuja, Tenda, Wiwi Pemo, Wolo Gai, Saga, Pu'u Tuga villages. , Soko Ria, Roga, Ndito, Detu Soko, Wolo Feo, and Keli Kiku. Apart from being attended by customary stakeholders, this ritual is also attended by important guests and invitations from district and provincial governments, and tourists who are visiting Kelimutu.

The center for the traditional rituals of Pati Ka is carried out in "Pere Konde", which is a stone monument that is attached to a kind of mesbah where the offerings are placed. Pere Konde means the Main Door to Mount Kelimutu which is very tightly guarded by an Afterlife Guard named Konde.

From Pere Konde, all the participants walked accompanied by traditional Lio - Ende music to the ritual procession route about 700 meters towards the summit of Mount Kelimutu.

From a special place, the traditional elders (Mosalaki Pu'u) lead the implementation of the culmination of the Pati Ka Ritual. At first, the customary leaders asked the ancestors for permission to provide protection to the ritual participants, especially the ritual actors so that they could carry out the whole series of Pati Ka events smoothly, safely and successfully. The ritual is continued with feeding the ancestors in the form of offerings consisting of betel nut, tobacco, pork taken from an important part of the body of a pig, brown rice and moke. The Mosalaki Pu'u put the offerings on the stone which becomes the altar or altar of offerings. The ritual is accompanied by the recitation of a prayer by a Mosalaki representative and ends with a Gawi Sodha dance by the Mosalaki Pu'u while walking around the location of the offering altar. The ritual ceremony was then continued with local songs and traditional dances from the Lio Ende community.

In this ritual ceremony, all present are required to wear traditional Lio - Ende clothes. The men wear a special sarong in the form of yeast and a headband or Lesu made from batik, as well as a Semba or shawl. While the women wear sarong in the form of Lawo and Lambu.