CARA VILLAGE SPIDER WEB RICE FIELD

Spider web rice field is one of the best tourist object in Flores Island, located in Cara village about 12 Lodok. In the center of this rice field planted by a trees, namely teno, and this tree is used as the center to make a line in measuring the field. In division the land, The head of village (tu’a teno) used his finger as the measuring instrument, and each people normally get the land section but not same size, size of land is depend on social status in the society. For some people who have hight level they will ger larger size, but for ordinary people they will get smaller size. Almost the land in Manggarai district is divided in using this system, and when the leader have measured it, next is pull the line to the end of the land that called cicing for all arround the center, so it’s formed look like spider web.

kms from Ruteng or 118 kms from Labuan Bajo. Spider web rice field has unique circle form with it’s center called

Lingko or spider web also has relation with mbaru tembong (traditional house of manggaraian) especially with the roof of Mbaru tembong. the roof of mbaru tembong has conical shape from the top to down, and  if we try to spread it in the land the form is same. In this case manggaraian believe with a local slogan “gendang onen lingko pe’ang” means lingko or land as the center for earning a living and mbaru or a house as the resting place for leaving.

In opening new land, always start the ceremony from Mbaru tembong (traditional house), where all people follow the ceremony to take offering for the ancestors while praying might their soul always take care all the people in processing of land division, then the next traditional ceremony is in the field as the new land to take offering to something or someone as the guardian of the land.