Spectacular Festivals of the World - Naghol — Land Diving

Taking place in southern Pentecost Island in the tiny Republic of Vanuatu every year on Saturdays between April and May, the deadly ritual of the Naghol is the original bungee jump, where men and boys tie vines to their ankles and jump from a 50 to 100 foot (15 to 30 meter) tower constructed specifically for this event, said to fertilize the ground to guarantee a bountiful yam harvest.



But height isn’t land diving’s scariest part. In this ritual, it isn’t enough to jump with a pair of Tarzan vines keeping you from crashing into the earth — your head has to hit the ground. As you launch yourself into the air, you hope that whoever cut your vines cut them just right so your head will barely touch the ground before they yank you back up.



If they’re too short, you’ll dangle in the air and the yams won’t benefit. If they’re too long the yams will be blessed — but you will die. Vines only 4 inches too long can cost you your life. No wonder just before he jumps, a man can say anything he wants and no one can hold it against him, as they might be his last words. Vines being cut after a successful jump.



According to legend, many centuries ago, a beaten woman ran away from her husband. Tamale found her hiding in a tall tree and called to her stating that if she came down her punishment wouldn’t be as severe, but she refused her husband. He climbed the tree after her, but she leaped when the man grabbed for her. In anguish at her death — or anger that he had missed her — Tamale jumped after her and perished, completely unaware that his wife had tied liana vines around her ankles and survived the fall.



The ritual evolved over the years to stripping a tall tree of its branches and building a tower of sticks to support the trunk. The platform is made of wood and covered with leaves to protect it from drying out by the sun before the ceremony, which are removed by the jumpers before they leap.



The liana vines used for the jumps are slightly elastic following the wet season which are shredded and tied to the tower. Each diver must select his own vine. Men and boys — some as young as 7 years old — climb the tower and leap from the platforms.



Young boys make their first dive jump from the lowest platforms, but even these are 2 stories high. Then the men go — from higher and higher platforms until the most experienced jumper takes the day’s final leap from the tower’s top, as high as 100 feet. The ritual is a show of strength, an acceptance into manhood, and a statement to women that they can never be tricked again.



The event is also a fertility rite. When the first yam crop is ready in April each year, the islanders begin construction of the massive towers for the land diving, which takes 5 weeks to build. As the vines stretch at the end of the dive, the land diver’s heads curl under and their shoulders touch the earth, making it fertile for the following year’s yam crop. The ritual is followed with a celebration of Kava, Tuluk, and Laplap.