Last modified: 2018-08-04 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/p/pf-papar.gif)
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The municipality of Papara (11,143 inhabitants in 2012; 9,300 ha) is located south of Papeete.
Olivier Touzeau, 25 August 2018
The flag of Papara (photo,
photo,
photo) is dark yellow with two thin dark blue stripes at the
upper and lower sides (about 1:10:1) and the emblem of the municipality in the
center.
The emblem features the Maharatee marae, as represented on
drawings made by visitors in the 17th century. The mountain in the
background is Mou'a Tamaiti.
The marae was erected in 1766-1768 on Manomano Point by King Purea and
Queen Amo for the consecration of their son, Teri’irere i outu rau na
To’oara’i. The marae was dedicated to god Oro; when warriors from Bora Bora sacked the Tapuapuatea maraea in Raiatea, the god's sacred image was saved by Grand Priests Tupaia and Maraea, who transported it on their pirogue. Tupai soon became the lover of Queen Purea.
The tradition says that the cornerstone of the marae was laid down by
Ruahatou, the sea god, after the Deluge. When asked by people who he
was, the god answered, "I am the god of extended pacification", in
Tahitian "Eatua vau i te maha'i atea", therefore the name given to the
marae.
Like other Tahitian royal marae, the Mahiatea marae was erected on a
promontory entering the sea. Manomano Point is so narrow that the marae
was hit by the waves during storms.
Captain James Cook described in 1769 the Mahaiatea marae as "a wonderful
specimen of Indian architecture... It is a rectangular pyramid whose
base is 81 m on 26.50 m, the top step being 54 m on 2.13 m. The 11
steps, each of 1.20 m, have an overall height of 13.50 m. Each step is
made of a row of coral stones, thoroughly cut, on which are placed other
rounded-off stones uniformly cut. The sacred images were placed on the
altar during religious ceremonies. The paved yard, 88 m on 81 m, was
surrounded by a low stone wall.
Captain James Wilson further described the marae, in 1799 as "a huge
stack of stones in pyramidal shape on a rectangular araa, made of a
series of 10 steps [...] It is a stunning building and it took them
tremendous effort and a very long time to bring all the stones, and to
cut the coral flagstones with the devices of the time.
Long after having been converted to the Christian religion, the locals
still respected the marae as the sacred place and feared the powers of
the ancient gods. William Stewart, the "Cotton King" of Atimaono,
ordered his Chinese workers to use the marae as a stone quarry when
building new roads or workshops. The marae was further ruined in 1909
when a lime kiln was establish there during the building of the Taharuu
and Vairahaeaha bridges.
[Tahiti Heritage]
The rehabilitation of the sacred site was initiated in December 2016.
under the guidance of Mark Eddowes, a New Zealander archeologist working
at the Department of Culture of French Polynesia. Eddowes has been
living since 1982 in French Polynesia; he directed several marae
excavation campaign in the Austral Islands and in Moorea.
The project aims at retrieving the foundations of the marae and "to show
to tourists and children of Papara the remains of the marae".
[La Dépêche de Tahiti, 23 January 2017]
Mou'a Tamaiti (1,474 m), the Teva sacred mountain, forms the limit of
the Papara and Te Piha ia Teta, in the upper Papenoo valley.
Mou'a Tamaiti is traditionally recalled as a diving board used by
giants, who dived into a shallow lake, sometimes loosing their life. The
most famous of them, Honoura i te pii marina, dived from Mou'a Tamaiti
after his heroic struggle with the swordfish Auroa, which had stuck its
rostrum into the mountain.
[Tahiti Heritage]
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 10 December 2017
![[Flag]](../images/p/pf-wi}pa.gif)
Flag of Tamari'i ma'ohi no Papara - Image by Ivan Sache, 2 August 2018
The flag of Tamari'i ma'ohi no Papara, an environmentalist association based in
Papara, is horizontally divided celestial blue-white-blue with a green mountain in the center.
David Touhiri, President od the association, explains that the colors of
the flag represent, from top to bottom, the sky, the air and the ocean.
The mountain is mou'a Tamaiti - the emblem of the association and the
emblem of Papara.
[La Dépêche de Tahiti, 22 November 2016]
Ivan Sache, 2 August 2018