WARNING: THIS IS A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT (with photos) OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TRADITIONAL FUNERAL CEREMONY WE ATTENDED IN TANA TORAJA. WE PURPOSELY WENT THERE KNOWING OF THE EXTREMES THEY GO TO IN THESE TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES. WE DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES FOR THEIR TRADITIONAL BELIEFS. IN FACT IT WAS AWE INSPIRING TO WITNESS AN ANCIENT CULTURE THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO KEEP THEIR TRADITIONS “ALIVE” WITH ALL OF THE WORLDS PRESSURES TO CONFORM. IF YOU FEEL READING THIS, THAT IT MAYBE DISTURBING FOR YOU, THAT’S OK! PLEASE STOP READING. BUT PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS FOR THEIR BELIEFS AS IN FACT WE CAN LEARN SO MUCH FROM THEM.
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| The beauty of the area is spellbinding |
Sailing to Sulawesi, was on our lists of must do’s before it got too crazy with tourists seeking out the undiscovered. One of our main focus’ was visiting Tana Toraja. To do that we sailed 180 nautical miles north from our arrival point in Sulawesi at Bira to the large town of Palopo, the closest point from the sea that we can reach Rantepao in the Tana Toraja region. Here we left Our Dreamtime in the well protected harbour under the watchful eye of our boat buddies on this trip, Emma and Daniel on Lola B. Finally after a three hour adventurous trip by our very safe driver, Mr Daniel, over very basic roads up mountains that broke above the cloud line, we arrived in the centre of the island of Sulawesi in the beautiful natural landscape of “Toraja Land”. Picturesque with terraced rice fields, tongkonan traditional house and granaries everywhere, we felt like we had arrived somewhere very special.
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| These are not just for tourists viewing the homes and granaries are still used within the family |
What we wanted to see in Tana Toraja were the places strongly connected with their culture and the ancient traditions of the Torajan people as well as seeing natural wonders in the region. Most of all it was the fascinating land of death, famous for its unusual and astonishing burial culture, that brought us here.
“Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you all is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.” So said Somerset Maugham.
Well Somerset couldn’t be further from the truth if you are Torajan. They literally live to die.
Above all, this destination is famous for the unique tradition of keeping the deceased body after death for long periods to allow time to plan the biggest festive funeral ceromies in the world. Though the majority of the population are now nominally Christian, they still practice their long established customs in all matters of life and death.
It’s intriguing to learn how the Torajan believe in the afterlife as a continuation to life on earth. The family consider their deceased are still alive until the proper funeral procession takes place. This can be in a matter of months or years after passing, depending on the status of the person, the costs associated with the funeral and where people will be traveling from to attend. After death and before the funeral ceremony, the dear departed is treated as a person who is “sick” not deceased. They are dressed and are offered regular meals, cigarettes and all the things they loved when “alive”. A white flag is placed outside the family compound to notify all that there is a “sick” person in the south room of the traditional Torajan house. It seems these practices haven’t changed much in some of these rural villages for many centuries.
For this period of time, however long as it maybe, the deceased is mummified with formaldehyde injections. In times past they utilised certain balms made of herbs and other natural ingredients to preserve the corpse, but formaldehyde is preferable now in these modern days. In the traditional home, there is a north room used for the children and guests to sleep. The middle room east/west room is reserved for the kitchen, living and family clan meeting room. The south room is where the parents, grandparents and the place where the deceased will lay in waiting, until the festival begins. (We will talk more about the traditional homes in another blog)
Families spend years and thousands of dollars commemorating life and the journey to the afterlife. A noble class extravagance could cost up to and above A$100k while even “Middle Class” funeral ceremonies can make the coast of a western funeral look cheap.
We were very fortunate to witness a funeral ceremony during our visit. The ceremony was into its second day of a three day celebration. They can last up to seven days for the noble class. The funeral we were attending was for a ninety-eight year old gentleman of middle class. He had out lived two of his three wives with them bearing him 14 children and many, many grandchildren. The festival was held at the deceased’s family home, where temporary bamboo structures are built for the guests to sit and watch the ceremony.
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| Bamboo structures are built so guests are comfortable to watch the ceremony |
When we arrived we were shown that all guests register their name and place of residence. As visitors to the region we were not required to do so. We were required to bring a gift, yes a gift. Our guide suggested cigarettes but as we are both strongly anti smoking we asked if we could provide an alternative. A definite “no” was the response. We purchased a carton of cigarettes as instructed.
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| Registration desk with the Master of Ceremonies checking on guest details |
Funerals in our society aren’t comfortable, even when you are invited, so imposing on this felt even stranger. However this was to be far from a dreary ceremony. As the clouds parted and the sun passed over the halfway mark in the sky, we were guided to sit in our area to watch the festivities. Here we were greeted by a host of women in lilac blouses and sarongs offering us traditional sweets, cakes and cookies accompanied by Toraja Arabica coffee. Very pleasant indeed. We then had a visit by two very cheerful people who sat with us. Our guide indicated we should offer our gift which we did and discovered our hosts were one of the sons and a niece of the deceased. Our first thought was to offer condolences, but they were so very happy and jovial to have us there, it would really seemed out of place if we did. This was truly a celebration – of life.
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| We are warmly welcomed by the deceased’s son Daniel |
It was time …… The Master of Ceremonies started speaking in the local dialect in a very loud but cheerful manner. Our hosts excused themselves and it was translated to us that more guests were arriving and they were needed. The Master of Ceremonies introduced a procession of people arriving. They were formed up, men to the right and women to the left walking down the hill into the centre of the festive area where they entered an open air, highly decorated bamboo pavilion which our guide explained was the reception area for formally welcoming guests.
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| Guests arriving |
Once seated, men on one side women on the other, the immediate family of the deceased paraded in the same men to the right women to the left formation . Once inside the reception area they proceeded to offer the men cigarettes (we then understood why the cigarettes were regarded as the appropriate gift) and the women were offered betelnut.
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| Family procession |
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| Family member taking offerings to the guests |
When the family had formally welcomed all the guests, the ladies in lilac appeared to serve coffee and sweets. Once these guests finished their coffee they were directed to numbered bamboo pavilions to watch the rest of the ceremony. There was a never ending procession of guests arriving introductions, gifts given, coffee consumed and taking their rightful seat in order.
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| Ladies of the community that prepare all of the food and provided the service of serving refreshments |
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| Master of Ceremonies speaking to the guests whilst the coffin in located above. |
So you think that is strange ….. well, if you are a little squeamish don’t read on.
In the midst of all of these goings on there was a concrete slab where men were butchering meat from the freshly sacrificed water buffalo that had been staked to the ground directly in front of us. If you think that’s strange, our guide then informed us that before any water buffalo is sacrificed the appropriate buffalo tax must be paid to the local government and the receipt available for presentation at the ceremony if required. At a noble class funeral ceremony a minimum of twenty four and over fifty water buffalos may get the chop. The more sacrificed, the more status achieved for the family. The Buffalo tax is clearly a fairly lucrative but not the only way we found out the Government gets in for their slice of the action at these expensive affairs.
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| It is such a normal event of sacrificing these animals in the middle of everything else That nobody noticed they were all walking through puddles of blood. |
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| The stake where the buffaloes are tied ready for sacrificing |
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| Puddles of blood mixed with the rain laid everywhere |
In addition to the water buffalo, pigs were literally being slaughtered everywhere. The sweet smell of blood hung in the extremely dense, humid air. Rain had fallen heavily that morning and blood mixed in the puddles that surrounded the official dais. These pigs are brought to the ceremony and “sacrificed” by guests but not before they also paid a “pig” tax at the registration desk which is overseen by a government official. You can imagine how costly this all is. It is one of the main reasons it takes so long after a person becomes “sick” for the ceremony to happen. Unlike western culture, it’s all way more expensive than a Torajan wedding.
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| Pigs were being carried to a fro in the middle of goings on and literally slaughtered everywhere |
Suddenly, the shrill scream of pigs in the distance made my ears ring, our guide said they knew death was coming for them. What a horrible sound the poor, panic-stricken screaming pigs were making. Everywhere the eye could see, pigs were either lying prostrate on the ground, tied to bamboo or they were viciously struggling, grunting and shrieking the most terrible shriek. The hardest part was watching men stab into their hearts through their sides, but the death seemed very quick so who are we to judge. In the middle of a large open field covered with mud and blood, men using large blow torches and were singeing the pig carcasses to burn off the hair.
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| Blowtorches once sacrificed |
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| Sacrificed on the pathway to the ceremony |
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| Quite literally everywhere |
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| The next lot awaited their fate |
My first reaction was to turn back, but then I remembered, this was Tana Toraja, the land of glorified funerals and of a completely different outlook on death and the afterlife altogether. I had to experience this, gore and all. It was like watching a movie, I was totally desensitised by the end walking right up to the animals and their slaughters taking photos and wanting to be able to tell the whole story, as truthfully as I could.
My only consolation for my western brain watching all of this slaughter was that all of these animals were going to be consumed. Just behind the dais, was a huge number of women preparing lunch and dinner for the huge number of attendees and if there were any left overs that it would be divided between the community.
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| The community come together to help with everything including feeding the 1000 odd guests for the three day ceremony |
According to our guide, this funeral in particular expected 1,000 guests over the course of 3 days with today being the highest attendance. Guests were hailing from all around Indonesia with hundreds that had already arrived watching, standing and sitting around in black garb with accents of gold and red. The black is not for mourning but in respect for the deceased. The females in the immediate family wore black veils. Some of the grandchildren had bright orange beaded traditional costumes and were smiling large, they had the official job of guarding the reception pavilion or escorting guests ….. a very import job indeed.
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| The family wear traditional black for respect, with red (denoting blood) and gold (denoting wealth) |
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| The women of the immediate family wear a veil. |
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| Granddaughter leading the parade |
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| The grandchildren have very important jobs of escorting guests, Guarding the reception pavilion and helping with the refreshments. |
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To us it was all so chaotic. I’m not sure mourning here would even be possible.
This was truly a celebration as the family and friends chatted cheerfully, music played and the MC boomed out more arrivals. The festivities would go well into the late hours with the younger ones staying up all night performing Ma'badong, a ritual where a group of men and women form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased.
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| Everyone was so cheerful it really didn’t seem like a funeral |
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| Guests wait to be introduced |
On the final day, once the funeral celebration is over, the coffin is often carried on a small litter in the form of a Tongkonan (traditional Torajan house). For this honour a minimum of four water buffalo must have been sacrificed at the ceremony and the litter is never to be used again. The deceased is laid to rest in a stone grave carved into a limestone cliff face or more commonly these days, a huge granite boulder. However we did also notice many modern mausoleums being built in many locations. Traditionally in years gone by they were placed in cave tombs however this is now rare.
But this is not the end …… no there is more.
Needless to say death is a long lengthy expensive ritual in Tana Toraja. Once the deceased is proclaimed dead by a priest attending the grave site on burial day, finally able to give the last rights. The tomb door maybe closed but not forever. Firstly a “tau tau” a look-a-like life size timber effigy is constructed and placed to guard the tomb entrance and to remind all who is residing within.
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| Photo supplied by our tour guide as we did not get to see the Tau Tau at the funeral we attended. |
Then depending on the families financial situation, the tomb is re-opened on year 1, 3 or 5. The body is redressed, offered food, cigarettes, sweets and any other goodies they enjoyed in their living days. They may even be taken home to spend time with the family….. and yes another ceremony is then conducted by the family with the sacrifice of a few pigs before re-internment.
Ma ‘Nene’ ceremony, where the dearly departed are removed from their resting place to be cleaned, redressed and to spend time with the family Photo supplied by our guide. |
This is an extraordinary tradition that has been practiced for centuries with only a few minor changes as the adoption of Christianity dictated and the use of more modern materials have come available. It is truly incredible that these ancient traditions have survived. On our last day in Tana Toraja after we had seen all of the death rituals practiced here, (yes there are more) I actually commented to our guide that I hope they are able to practice their traditions for centuries more.
It was truly refreshing to see a culture so at ease and proud of their centuries old heritage, traditions and culture.
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| Funeral litters once used now just sitting near the tomb site |
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| Processions just kept happening |
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| We noticed that many guests were of Muslim Faith, everyone so accepting of another’s faith |
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| Each animal sacrificed was introduced letting us know who supplied the gift |
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| Before Christianity the deceased would stand and watch the proceedings now laid in a coffin |
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| Decorations all handmade |
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| The funeral setting we sat to the right as honoured guests |
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| The reception pavilion |
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| To be honest their was so much slaughter that you became desensitised |
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| The next to be slaughtered they are so expensive the economy rides on the buffaloes back |
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| The butchers just kept going didn’t matter what else was happening |
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| Palm wine was also a popular gift |
If you would like to see the moving pictures of how we released the stuck chain and anchor you can watch it here. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/DreamtimeSailEP116
