Qualla: The Drum of God https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:27 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Drum of God https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park The Drum of God: Introduction https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0. When the people of Mamasa beat a drum during a traditional funeral ceremony, a mysterious echo rolls back from the mountain. High on the summit of Tanete Gandangdewata, a massive rounded stone sits exposed to the sky, and from the valleys below it looks exactly like a drum -- the kind beaten at births, deaths, and the rituals that connect one to the other. The Mamasa people named it accordingly: gandang means drum in their language, and dewata, borrowed from Sanskrit, means god. This is Gandang Dewata, the Drum of God, and since 2016 the 189,208 hectares of montane forest draped across its flanks have been Indonesia's 53rd national park.

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Image: Sakurai Midori | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Drum of God: Wallace's Living Laboratory https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Ran1897, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sulawesi straddles one of the most important biogeographical boundaries on Earth. The Wallace Line, named for the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, marks the transition between Asian and Australian fauna, and Sulawesi sits squarely in the mixing zone. The result is an island of e...

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Image: Ran1897 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-wallaces-living-laboratory.mp3 0:06 2 full The Drum of God: Three Thousand Meters of Cloud Forest https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0. Tanete Gandangdewata is the highest peak in the Quarles Range, the mountain spine that runs through western Sulawesi. The main summit reaches 3,074 meters; a northern sub-peak stands at 3,037 meters, and the southern at 2,966. Northeast of the main summit, Puncak Mistis -- the My...

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Image: Sakurai Midori | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-three-thousand-meters-of-cloud-forest.mp3 0:06 3 full The Drum of God: Waterfalls and Hidden Peaks https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0. The park's lower elevations are laced with waterfalls that cascade down from the Quarles Range's steep western slopes. Bata, Buttuada, and Samababo are the most accessible, each tumbling through gaps in the forest where sunlight reaches the water for a few hours each day. Hernon ...

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Image: Sakurai Midori | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-waterfalls-and-hidden-peaks.mp3 0:06 4 full The Drum of God: Uranium Beneath the Roots https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0. Beneath the forest that conservationists are working to protect lies a different kind of resource. The mountains of West Sulawesi contain deposits of nickel, thorium, and uranium, and radiation surveys have detected levels significant enough to warrant further investigation. The ...

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Image: Sakurai Midori | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-uranium-beneath-the-roots.mp3 0:06 5 full The Drum of God: The Echo Persists https://qualla.com/gandang-dewata-national-park/ Photo credit Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0. Gandang Dewata remains one of Indonesia's least-visited national parks, overshadowed by Komodo and Bromo-Tengger-Semeru and the other parks that appear on tourist itineraries. No international flights land in Mamasa. The journey from Makassar requires hours of driving on mountain...

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Image: Sakurai Midori | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/x/k/z/gandang-dewata-national-park-wp/qxkz-the-drum-of-god-the-echo-persists.mp3 0:06 6 full