Tana Toraja Part 1: Ritual Ceremony and the Cult of the Dead

           

Fig.1 A skull among bones at the hanging graves of Londa,
Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

One of the most intriguing cultures I've encountered here in Indonesia so far are the Torajan people of south Sulawesi. Tucked away in the isolated mountain lands of Sulawesi island, they have, until relatively recently, remained cut off from the outside world and their unique culture has remained quite unchanged for centuries. As recently as just forty years ago, these people adopted Christianity (albeit in a very modified way) on a large scale, their first real contact with missionaries only beginning in 1913 through Dutch colonial expansion. Prior to this, and still today, it was animism which dominated Tana Toraja, ‘Land of the Toraja’. Though Christianity is said to be the official religion of most Torajans today, from my experience it has been only nominally adopted. A strong sense of tradition and solid connection to the past means that ancestral worship and animal sacrifice prevail as central elements of the culture. Due to this relationship to the ancestors, who are often seen as demi-gods, a cult of the dead developed among the people early on. Ritual and custom surrounding the preparation and treatment of the dead exists like this nowhere else in the world and influences every aspect of life for these people from the moment they are born. Little is published about this culture, at least in English, so most of my sources come from the contacts I met there and the few sources I was able to find subsequently. Given the importance of understanding several aspects of the culture, I will divide my article into three parts. Part two will discuss the various funeral types and burial places through the lens of my own experience there. Part three will focus on the importance of community and the Tongkonan (ancestral family house). However, this first part is an overview of the belief system and the importance of the cult of the dead itself.  

Aluk Todolo: ‘The ways of the ancestors’

            Though Christianity has undoubtedly influenced the way in which the old religion is practiced today, it does remain largely intact if not in full practice, at least in the minds of the people. Originally called Aluk Pitung Sa’Bu Pita Ratu’Pitung Pulo Pitu or the 7777 belief or ways of life (Achsin 1991, p29), it was not only a religious system but entailed the entire custom of the people, indicating everything from religious cosmology and the observance of ritual down to house building and societal values. For this article, I will only focus on cosmology and ritual.

            Like many religions the world over, the cosmology of Aluk Todolo is based on a three tiered system: The upper world (sky), the earth and the underworld (centre of the earth). Inhabiting these divisions are three classes of deity, some with their own sub-divisions. The highest power is the creator god known as Puang Matua who inhabits the highest sphere of the upper world and must be appeased by the living to ensure safe passage of their loved ones to the afterlife or Puya. The second group are the Deata, essentially containing the animist spirits who inhabit every living and non-living object. They are sub-divided into Deata Tangngana Langi’ (sky gods), Deata Kapadangana (earth gods) and Deata Tangngana Padang (gods of the centre of the earth). The third group, the focus of the article, are the Todolo (ancestors) who, if given the correct burial rituals, can become demi-gods called Tomembali Puang or ‘those who become gods’. In addition to the ‘Four Principles’ which instruct on the observance of certain rituals, the treatment of flora and fauna and the usage of living space, this represents the first ‘seven’ in the 7777 belief system. Dualism (light-dark, happy-sad, life –death etc.) and the cardinal directions also play a strong part in life and ritual as does, to a certain extent, belief in black magic. However, it is in the rituals and practices associated with the dead ancestors, Tomembali Puang, that the religion seems to have most endured and is given its greatest expression.

 Treatment of the dead  

            When a person dies in Tana Toraja, it begins a long and expensive process for the family to send them to the afterlife where they will hopefully achieve demi-god status. No expense is spared as to have an ancestor as a demi-god is seen to be of great benefit to the living descendants. In this position, the ancestor can guide and protect their descendants and bestow blessings on them throughout their remaining lives. Even better, is to have a long line of ancestors to lay claim to and revere, therefore increasing the amount of these blessings. Given the prospect of such ancestral protection, it comes as little surprise that their dead bodies are given the utmost respect and care leading up to and during the extensive rituals and for a long time after. To ensure the safe journey of the spirit and its access to demi-god status (becoming Tomembali Puang) in the afterlife, the creator god Puang Matua must be properly appeased. Depending on the social caste of the person (there is a four caste system, similar to India), this largely involves animal sacrifice, particularly that of the sacred water buffalo.

Fig.2 A rare (and highly prized) white
headed buffalo

            Most of the major parts of the death rituals (rituals of sadness being collectively called Rambu Solo’) are held at and in front of the ancestral family home or Tongkonan. A Toma’ Balun or death specialist oversees all the ritual proceedings. The impressive Tongkonan structures made of wood and shaped like the prows of a ship on stilts, are of central importance to communities and serve as a form of social identity. I will talk more about these in part three. If the person is high born, or ‘Gold Stick’, there is a certain level of ritual sacrifice and ceremony expected of their family to ensure the soul will achieve the same level of status in the afterlife as they had in life. The Toraja believe that the souls of the animals and objects sacrificed on earth will join and serve the dead person. Buffalo, which are highly prized as ritually important animals in this capacity, are raised almost exclusively for funeral sacrifice not even allowed to be worked in fields. They are washed regularly by their owners and, even in times of hunger (so our guide told us) they will never be killed for food. The fact that they are seen as representations of wealth in this society (in life and death) might explain their ritual importance and can cost up to $10,000, especially the rarer white spotted and albino buffalo.

            Since a full perfect ritual ceremony (reserved and required for the high caste people) can involve the sacrifice of up to a hundred buffalo, these events are considerably expensive, but necessary for a family. Even lower caste people have high pressure on them to provide the adequate amount of animal sacrifice for their ancestor to pass on correctly. For this reason, the dead person can remain unburied for a long time as money (and particularly buffalo which embody wealth itself) is needed before the ceremony can be performed. In light of this and in accordance with the belief system, the dead person is merely seen as ‘sick’ until the proper offerings can be made. Sometimes taking as long as a year, the dead body is kept in the family house or Tongkonan until the day of the ceremony. During this time, the body is treated as if it were still alive, being lain in the east-west direction (as the living lay in sleep) and even spoken to. One must ask permission of the dead person to enter or leave the house and the body is often seated in an upright position being dressed and fed as a sick person would be. Although they are embalmed, there is of course often an odour of decay but no one can comment on this for fear of insulting the body. Once the ceremony has been performed (which can take up to two weeks itself), the body is then laid in a north-south orientation, thereby signifying they have now passed on and can be formally considered dead. At this point they are carried to the family tomb.

Fig.3  Skulls stacked neatly in a cave burial north of Rantepao,
Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

            Even after the burial in rock cut tombs (I will talk about these later), the body is continually revered to ensure the spirit does not forget the living and to show respect. This reverence comes in the form of supplementary ceremonies. The first is Ma’balik Tomate or the turning over of the dead. This can occur weeks or months after the burial and involves the family removing the body and turning it over before returning it to the tomb. Every time the tomb is opened, an additional sacrifice of a pig is required to secure permission. Following this are various others, often involving removal of the body, changing of the wrappings and the leaving of offerings of food and drink. Many years down the line, if the dead person is still actively remembered, their bare bones will continue to be removed periodically and cleaned. If the burial casket or shroud has degraded to a poor enough state, the skulls and remaining bones, are often stacked neatly on rocks or ledges to prevent them being lost to time and to ensure they can be easily found by future generations. This is all in the hopes that the ancestor, now a demi-god, will remember their descendants’ efforts.

            The journey of the spirit to Puya (the place they achieve demi-god status) involves a lot of waiting and status assertion. Puya is thought to be situated far to the southern horizon and it’s entrance gate is on top of a mountain called Bambapuang. When spirits reach the gate, “...they are instructed to call out their social position and personal disposition...The souls are asked if the funeral ceremony has been carried out and the type that was celebrated” (Achsin 1991, p46). No entrance to Puya is permitted until the correct ceremony (including the follow up ceremonies) for their social caste has been performed.

           

Conclusion 

All of this may seem unusual to many people, but it is important to understand it in the context of the belief system of which it is built around. The influence the ancestral spirits have on the world of the living is very real and tangible in the minds of the Toraja. To ignore tradition, even after the influence of Christianity, risks loosing an identity. Every family member has the unquestionable obligation to save for and give money toward, not only funerals, but the rebuilding of ancestral houses and the maintenance of their society. As family connections can branch out a long way through extended families, this contribution can be very frequently required. However, this also promotes the need for having large families so costs can be more evenly distributed among members. The sense of a close knit community, bonded together though mutual responsibility and respect for each other is an ever present element in this fascinating group of people. Though Western materialistic values have begun to seep into the core of the Torajans today, it is their proud willingness to preserve and maintain the Aluk Todolo, or ‘ways of the ancestors’, that allows such a rare culture to continue into the modern age. As for us all, a strong sense of the past is what gives us our identity today, and I think no one knows this better than the people of Tana Toraja.


Bibliography

Adams, K.M. (1997) ‘Ethnic Tourism and the Renegotiation of Tradition in Tana Toraja (Sulawesi, Indonesia)’ in Ethnology, vol. 36, no. 4 (pp309-30), University of Pittsburgh of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education.

Waterson, R. (1995) 'Houses, Graves and the Limits of Kinship Groupings among the Sa'dan Toraja' in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (pp 194-217), Deel 151, KITLV, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Carribbean Studies.

Achsin, Amir (1991) Toraja: Tonkonan and Ritual Ceremony, Ananda Graphia Press, Ujung Padang, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.