Kirin Koda

Kirin Koda is held by the Lamaholot, who live on the islands of Lembata, Solor and Adonara and around Larantuka in eastern Flores. Its supreme being is Lera Wulan Tana Ekan, the creator, and worshippers also honour the spirits of ancestors, who intercede between the living and the highest god.

Rites were held at the megalithic sanctuaries called korke and nubanara. The sign of the supreme being was a wooden post, the rie lima wana, where people asked for blessing, and in certain ceremonies animals were slaughtered and their blood smeared on it.

When the Portuguese arrived, Solor was already held by Muslims, in the Solor Watan Lema league of five Islamic kingdoms. From the sixteenth century Portuguese power brought Catholicism, which came to dominate, while Kirin Koda survived among a minority.