Revel In Sabah's Harvest Festival

Celebrated extravagantly for the entire month of May, Kaamatan commemorates the start of a bountiful harvest season and a holy sacrifice from the Gods.

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KAAMATAN FESTIVAL

Sabah (Malaysia)

Every year, the people of Kadazan-Dusun, an ethnic group originating in Sabah, eagerly anticipate the Harvest Festival, also known as Tadau Kaamatan, the marking of the month-long festivities for a bountiful rice cultivation season. In the native language of the Kadazan-Dusun people goes, ‘Kaamatan’ translates to ‘harvest’.

Kaamatan has been celebrated in Sabah since way before the 15th century. Its roots are connected to the Kadazan-Dusun tribe and their unique belief system, Momolianism. The followers of Momolianism believe strongly in the balance between the natural (Pomogunan Tulun) and spirit (Pomogunan Tosundu) realms. Central to Momolianism is the belief that the land is a gift from the creator and connects people to the past, present, and future. The Kaamatan festival embodies these principles through traditional practices such as appeasing the gods, reunion of spirits, and purification.

According to an age-old legend, the KadazanDusun race was plagued with a widespread famine that threatened their very continuity. The soil grew exceedingly infertile and crops were wilting. The Dusun pagan god, Kinorohingan, took it upon himself to rescue the people from demise. He sacrificed his daughter, Huminodun, by cutting her up and dispersing her body all over the Earth’s barren soil. Almost instantly, healthy crops began to grow and the people rejoiced at the mercy of Kinorohingan.