kolinga

kolinga CULTURE — A rite of passage. Kolinga is a → cumatu, or rite of passage, for girls age thirteen that is peculiar to → Lustrain and the surrounding mountains in → Ausrost. The kolinga is a ceremony that marks a young woman’s passage into adulthood. Origins of the rite are unknown, but historical records show the ceremony was once supervised by a particular sect of → dumas known as the → Monkshood. However, over time the Monkshood died out, and local → khan (in this case, elder women from among the → cluster) took over the Monkshood’s duties. In older times, the girls would be given a sleeping tonic upon entering the ceremony and would often not wake for days after. The exact details of what transpired during the ceremony were never revealed beyond the dumas, and the girls themselves could offer no practical insight into the rite. The kolinga ended when the cluster grounds—along with its inhabitants—were obliterated during what is believed to have been an eruption of volatile steam from within the mountain on which the cluster was built.