Toraja Furneral
Employing intricate cycles of ritual observance punctuated with marvelous pageantry and even bloody spectacle, the Toraja devote much time and effort to the care of their ancestors. The Toraja believe their forebears reside in heaven and participate directly in the welfare of the material world trough their blessings. To conduct the souls of the deceased safely into the next world, the Toraja mount elaborate ceremonies which also serve to solidify bonds of mutual obligation among the traditionally suspicious clan groups.
Villages can swell many times their normal populations as families stage enormous funerals, often years after the loved one has passed away. In the invariably muddy field and pathways hundreds of chickens and pigs are summarily dispatches, while buffalo are slaughtered with great ceremonies, young boys jostling to catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Events range from quiet prayers and solemn processions to stirring hymn singing and exciting battles between water buffalo, all conducted in a festive atmosphere of clan solidarity and reunion
For visitors, this is a magnificent show, as the ever hospitable Toraja will make arrangements to accommodate everyone who attends the ceremonies. Even a young backpacker stumbling into a Toraja funeral is offered a space in the temporary shelters erected for the occasion. The shelter set aside for tourists is generally in good location, behind the closest relatives and community leaders, of course, but often far closer to the action than shelters reserved for distant or impoverished relations. A well behaved foreigner is considered an honored guest, whose arrival from afar adds cosmopolitan element to the festive occasion.
