The mysterious megaliths of the Bada Valley

Look at Palindo, the most majestic guardian of Bada Valley, Indonesia, wary of strangers. Who are they? Why have they come to this valley, nestled among the equatorial forests of Indonesia?

…Carved from solid blocks of stone, the statues stand-alone or in groups near old graves. They range in height from one to four and a half meters. The statues have a phallic shape, stylized features, and indistinct hands. The rolled-up eyes, eyebrows, and nose molded in one piece give them a certain family resemblance.

Each statue, however, is individual and has its own name. They all have signs of gender, but only a quarter of them depict women.

And some do not look human at all, such as the statue of Dula Boe, whose reclining body, half-immersed in the earth of a rice paddy, looks more like a buffalo. Most of the stone faces face the setting sun and the realm of the supreme deity Puang Matua…

It is thought that many statues in Bada Valley were made between 3000 BC and 1600 AD. The megaliths were probably built to honor the ancestors and designate a special place where the souls of the ancestors come down to earth and where the living can communicate with the spirits, praise them or beg for protection, for a harvest.

But what civilization created these stone creatures, these guards of the valley of Bada? So far there is no answer.

In all, more than 400 granite megaliths have been discovered in this district, of which about 30 represent human sculptures of the most ancient origin. They range in size from a few centimeters to 4.5 meters.

Another surprising fact about the Bada megaliths is that the statues are made of stone that is not mined in the area. A mystery shrouded in darkness, as they say.