All ArticlesIndonesia

Indonesia: Tana Toraja – “Where is the party for the dead man?”

degb-gray

From October 2015 to January 2016 I traveled in Southeast Asia without my bicycle – to meet my family and to visit some friends. I want to share at least a few impressions from there before I continue to report here from my adventures on the bike.

Warning: This article contains photos and descriptions of animal killings and human remainings

November 2015
“We’re running late”, I think while we are rushing on a motorbike through green rice terraces. By we, I mean me and my brother Felix who is sitting behind me. For now we have been traveling only a week in Sulawesi, one of the main islands of Indonesia.

toraja_small146

The loamy path called main road splits again. A woman walks along the way, I drive slowly and shout “Di mana pesta orang mati?” “Where’s the party for the dead man?” The woman smiles and points to the left. It is not the first time that I ask for directions and everyone here seems to know the right direction. We are on our way to a funeral.

toraja_small157

That’s why most tourists are here, the area and its inhabitants are world famous for their funeral ceremonies and even though it is off season now there is one every day. People always die. But here the dead have to wait for their own burial, sometimes for years. It is the most important festival in everyone’s life and should be celebrated the most. Many families have to save money for a long time to afford such a thing and conserve the dead bodies until then – sometimes for years.

toraja_small112

We are on the road to the small village of Nanggalla. Yesterday we met a young teacher who lives in Rantepao and told us about this funeral. Somehow people always know what’s going on. Even without Internet and newspaper and modern media, here in Indonesia people still talk to each other and share news in direct conversations.

On the increasingly narrow path some motorcycles overtake us, the men wearing all black clothing and a pig is tied to one of the motorcycles. We are on the right way and actually we can´t be too late because the ceremonies always take several days.

toraja_small103

toraja_small102

Finally we arrive at the house of the dead and I feel a little queasy. During my trip I have been several times to weddings or other festivities and celebrations, but I was always invited. This time it´s something else, what we do here is funeral tourism and I can imagine that not everyone here like that. Among the prying eyes of the numerous guests who sit on specially erected stands out of bamboo, we wonder through to the family of the deceased and convey our gifts – a bag of sugar and one full of coffee. Then our seats are assigned to us, directly opposite to the house in front of which the coffin of the dead stands. On the floor are already animal remains and a man is busy throwing great chunks of meat in a barrel of boiling oil.

toraja_small133 toraja_small135

As almost always in Indonesia we find someone who speaks English and tells us that we have missed the buffalo fight and the slaughter of some pigs. Now everyone is waiting for the arrival of the water buffalos. In this culture it is important to slaughter as many animals as possible at someones funeral to give the dead greatest possible honor and help him on his journey into the next life. This is a rather small funeral we are told, only about twenty pigs and seven buffaloes are supposed to be sacrificed. The family has saved a long time to buy all the animals and also the local government gives a buffalo as a gift.

toraja_small104

The atmosphere is relaxed, a funeral is also a cause to see relatives and friends and exchange news. There are several hundred guests here, in principle anyone of the surrounding villages is invited and coffee and snacks are served all day. Then suddenly a murmur goes through the crowd and it becomes quiet. A man dressed in a fine cloth brings a buffalo and binds him to a post in the middle of the square. Some guest leave their seats and come closer, but remain at a safe distance from the large animal. Then everything happens very quickly: A man, a specially chosen family member, raises a large knife and prepares to do the faithful action. The silver blade flashs up and cuts the throat of the animal, blood spurts and it takes a while before the huge animal rears up and collapses. Blood coming from it´s mouth, the nose and the heavy body falls with a thud on the dirt floor. The crowd is silent, a few young people got out their mobile phones to film the spectacle.

toraja_small137

I get goose bumps, a strange tension in the air. As the animal jerks and bled to death slowly, the next Buffalo is already brought to follow the same fate. After a short the ground is covered with blood and the dead corpses of several buffallos.

 

toraja_small138

The dead animals are taken apart and prepared and served to the guests. In addition, everyone gets to take home a piece of meat.

toraja_small169


Felix and I leave the place of carnage to look at a few tombs. There is a cave full of coffins and old bones. It is pitch black and in the light of the torch half-rotted coffins and skulls appearing everywhere. In front of the cave is a gallery with a kind of dolls. For each dead person a tau tau, a doll is made and placed there.

 

toraja_small145 toraja_small141

Sometimes the wooden coffins are hung on a cliff. The higher the social status of the deceased, the higher the coffin will be hung up. Over time the wood rotts and the bones fall down and form a sizeable pile at the foot of the cliff.

 

toraja_small105 toraja_small158People here have definitely a relaxed and natural handling of the subject of death.

But it is not only the funeral and burial rites which makes this area worth seeing. The traditional Tongkonan houses and mountain landscapes, crossed by rice fields and tropical jungle are fascinating.

toraja_small130 toraja_small142 toraja_small099

toraja_small165

 

Felix and I spend three weeks in Sulawesi and have taken in everything what was on our way. From colorful underwater worlds, smoking volcanoes, thundering waterfalls, golden beaches and friendly people – Indonesia is always amazing.

toraja_small119 toraja_small108 toraja_small107 toraja_small109 toraja_small121 toraja_small101

toraja_small113 toraja_small152 toraja_small151 toraja_small149 toraja_small106

toraja_small100 toraja_small172 toraja_small128 toraja_small129 toraja_small120

toraja_small164 toraja_small171 toraja_small110

One thought on “Indonesia: Tana Toraja – “Where is the party for the dead man?”

Comments are closed.