Do you know? The facts about Toraja people: how Indonesia’s living with corpses. Toraja is an ethnic group that belongs to the indigenous mountain range of South Sulawesi, which lies in Indonesia. These people have a strange practice where they treat the dead once as not that dead. Till the funeral of the dead people is scheduled they offer water, food, cigarettes, and other belongings or favorites to them which turns out to be expensive as it is a lifelong thing.
What is the Facts About Toraja People
This is the facts about Toraja people. Napeek has innovated on all topics related to the facts about Toraja people. Though it may sound strange the subject is considered a taboo for many of us but when it comes to the Toraja Habitat death is more of a lifelong preoccupation. They death as a part of their life.
Toraja people are a kind of indigenous ethnic group who are very rich from the perspective of a cultural heritage and have a unique funeral custom that make them distinctive from any other existing society. At the time of death they have an intricate ritual which is followed by many ceremonies that leads to a funeral practice which involves their entire community.
Toraja resides 800 km in the North East Of Bali and they are Christian in minority who are mostly protestant but some are also Catholic as the influence of Dutch of the colonial Missionaries is quite a lot. These people sees death as a part of life and whenever the member of a family passes away they follow a traditional religion that is called the way of ancestor or Aluk To Dolo, in this ritual that is influenced by the Christianity they treat the Dead one as sick who are no known as Toma Kula. They also even offer the necessity or a luxury which are food, cigarette water and smart gadgets on a daily basis as they believe that the spirit remains near them and craves for everything they were once used too.
These people always believe that the southernmost part is dedicated to heaven Therefore, the Corps is also kept in that direction of room. They also believe that North is a direction where you can found life therefore they avoid the corpse to be kept in North and for the face they choose the west direction as they are currently in transition.
The day on which the Rambu solo which is called the funeral is kept the family of the Corpse allows the body to face South instead of west but it is a process of several months and can also take even a few years from the date when the person has taken his last breath. The time can also be chosen when the family of the dead has saved enough money to send him away respectably. Till it has not been done the dry plant is placed near the body of the corpse.
A water buffalo is killed during the ceremony of Rambu solo and only when the official death of the sick person is observed. The more buffaloes are sacrificed it is believed to faster the soul will find its way to puya. If it is a middle caste funeral the perfect number of the buffalo sacrifice is 24 and the guest who arrive at this moment also bring bulls as gift. It is also believed that the family who received Bull as a gift will also have to return this favors when their roles are reversed. The cost of Buffalo also varies as per their skin texture and the length of horn and the color of the eye. The cost of funeral also gets greater and greater. If it is a middle caste funeral it can go almost 50,000 US Dollar and when it’s an upper class it can lie between $250,000 and US$ 500,000 for the upper class. This estimate is clearly an explanation while the corpse remain in the home for such a long time.
Youngster of The Trojan community also feel drained by this practice but as the practice exists for more than 900 years there is no perfect solution to it. Instead of buying expensive vehicles and living a luxurious life they are burdened by the sacrificial buffalo’s cost.
Even after the Corpse is given a rest place finally they are not left to die peacefully. With every 3 to 5 years a clan of people gathers there that includes their family and relatives and the dead body is taken out of the coffin and given a new set of clothes and this practice is known as ma’nene. This festival is not related to death, rather it’s a celebration of love that is beyond the mortal concept which gets inspired from pong Rumasek. He was a hunter who once found a corpse. He then wrapped it in the cloth and buried it and hence thereafter he got so much blessing that it involved good luck and long life.
Conclusion
In the unique funeral ceremony, the person who passed is treated as an active member of the community by the Toraja people of Indonesia. Giving their departed loved ones food, drink, and other requirements after they pass away is how they believe in staying in touch with them. These costly rituals, which can go on for months or even years, are influenced by both Christianity and their native religion. It gets much more expensive because part of the elaborate burial rites entails the sacrifice of water buffaloes. Toraja community members continue to remember past generations and maintain their cultural history by following to these practices, even if some younger members find them burdensome.
