Religious concepts as background of ancestor worship

“………… Eka upuleru kerun mai, nunu upasnu kakeperni lisar nida ilaa nida loom. Katuwawi tenorma amuetma polu wutu spuou liarnu spuou wooni. Leter woru rusnuru woru roduwutu ratema pempeunu teptepra. Rapolaa upulera orporeke tetpioo naanu rerlai po nemnu kukuma po nana rapalpala po nemnu. Nensalmeka resa sewowoone wuku sewowoone. Siwi meyetap wawleianu mukakarse. Nodi nusriala rumerwaata aane rowaate. Pola upuleru rowaklaa upulera nawiru nowakawi lelis niani masa snaani. Sutre pipui snrue marne liawanne wusru liawanne. Pelemse rnu lelenwalse makamate wawi makamte liol makapupuprupu makiaata kaunmakiaata. Nodimai netemnelaa liarnu spaou wooni mutusieri muturiarme nedrumlole sakarlole tetliole tetliole toplole. Jomuutki nimamu pele rasoi wenu, toikus metme nimamu pele retiki wenu letworu nawerwerna. Netertesra …… “

This was a prayer sang in hoarse voices through dry throats sounds to heaven begging for mercy and a drop of rain from the heavenly gods by humans on dry and barren earth. When, for a long period during the dry season no rain has fallen and the South Eastern wind blew without carrying a drop of dew, life for humans as well as animals and vegetation would become miserable. Man will cry for upulera “the sun god” and beg for rain to fall and wet mother earth. A free translation of the prayer song above is as follows: “………..Ea Upuleru, come down to earth, because the nunu tree has started to give young buds. Eat as much as you want from these offerings that we have brought for you and make the earth alive again, rise and fertilize this land with your rain water. Make this land (island) a shining dot drifting on the waves of the ocean. O upuleru, please tell the lighting to prepare himself, so that the roots of our trees can loosen themselves from so long being enslaved by the dry and hardened soil”…….

This prayer for help is accompanied by a fiesta called “poreka”. Various kinds of food including pork, goat, buffaloes, palm wine, elephant tusks, golden ear rings and necklaces etc were offered to upuleru.


The background of this ritual is lack of knowledge and technology. Facing consequences of tomorrow which is uncertain and death could be the result of dryness, makes man lean on powers he believed are more powerful than he is. This cause man makes religious acts of rituals. And through those rituals he hoped to have a more secure life.


This religious system is based on holy stories that sometimes have its roots in the past, which is called myth. Myths do not mean true or not true. In this case myth is different than lullabies. Myths are dreams of supernatural truth, which contain reality, such as cosmos, deities and divine natural powers, formulas of law and ethics and social law. That’s why myth became the highest truth which forward patterns or basics of live.

There are many myths about one super natural power, which is the creator of man and the universe. This power created, planned and organized the live of man. He is the ultimate super natural being called “It Matromna” (South East Moluccas) and “Upu Lanite” (Central Moluccas).


One stage below “It Matromna”/Upu Lanite are personifications of bodies of the universe such as “upuleu” (the sun god), “upu inai” (mother earth) and others. Myths of the worshiping of the sun and the earth in relation with the creation of land and man, especially on Leti island is as follows: “Once upon a time upulera sent a young girl named “Osakramiasa” (meaning island, gold or female) with the help of the lightning (symbol of male) into the ocean. Commanded by upulera, a snake crept into her lap and Osakramiasa became pregnant. She gave birth to a red feathered rooster. When the rooster wanted to fly away Osakramiasa caught the legs of the rooster and did not let go. So when the rooster flew up from the bottom of the sea to the surface, he pulled Osakramiasa along with him and she became the island Leti.

In a simple way this myth could be translated as follows: upulera (male) has a relation with upuinai (female), through the lightning (male symbol of fertility because lightning is identical to rain) and the girl (symbol of fertility) which met in the sea (water is also a symbol of fertility). Thoughts of fertility became accentuated when the myth tells about the snake which crept into the lap of the girl (coitus), got pregnant and finally gave birth to a red feathered rooster. A rooster is the symbol of the sun, which in turn means the source of live. Through the power of this live giving source, an island was created, the island of Leti. This means that new live on earth was the result of interaction between natural powers such as the sun and the earth.


The people of the Moluccas, especially in the South Eastern islands, believe that man has 2 souls. The first soul lives in the body of the man which gives him the will and strength to live. This soul will die when the man dies. The second soul lives in the shadow of the man, but will not die when the man dies, it will move to another place and live forever. After a death, the second soul will be called “nitu”. When the man belongs to the ursiwa social group, his nitu will travel to an island called Baer, and when he belongs tyo the lorlim social group his soul will travel to an island called Ohimas. On these islands the nitu does live an everlasting live, but they are not bound there forever. The nitu’s are free to leave the island and visit their village of origin and their relatives (descendants). Their visits occur through the phenomena of dreams. Their visit could occur on their own free will or they were called upon by their living descendants. Basically a nitu’s visit could either be constructive, if his living descendants frequently bring offerings to him, or it could be destructive if his living descendants neglected to bring offerings. A constructive visit will bring forth fertility to the gardens. A destructive visit could take the form of sickness, death or the gardens failed to give crops.


Nitu’s are souls of ancestors which are not worshiped collectively by the whole village, except by his or her own descendants. Nitu’s of village leaders have a higher position than a common nitu. That’s why they are worshiped and offerings are being brought by the whole village. In Serwaru archipelago (Lati, Moa, Lakor) “dere” and “luli” are the founding couple of the villages. Both nitu are the protectors and also mediators of the common nitu’s and upulera/upuinai. Because of holiness of upulera/upuinai, the common nitu’s does not have direct access to them, therefore dere and luli became mediators.


Believing in sacred deities and ancestor spirits became an object of worship and tribute of man transformed into works of art. Those works of art are wooden and stone statues were treated in a sacred magic-religious way; since the cutting of the knawa tree, the carving process and the worshipping rituals.