The Unusual Ways to Respect Their Loved Ones

26 May 2021

When we think about the funeral for our late family, it should be with flowers and gifts. It shows affection and respect for the deceased relatives. But this is not the case for the people in Tana Toraja. Located in the beautiful region of south sulawesi province, the landscape of tana toraja is surrounded with ranging slopes of mountains and beautiful valleys with sugar palms and bamboo growing alongside the traditional houses with curved roofs among the paddy fields. The word Toraja comes from the Buginese language to riaja meaning, “people of the uplands”. For the Torajan people, family is their primary interest. Which results in an unbreakable bond between each family. Also, most of the population still believe in an indigenous belief system, polytheistis animism, called Aluk. The government of Indonesia has recognized the belief as Aluk To Dolo, which means “way of the ancestors”. After the brief explanation about Toraja culture, let’s dive in about what is different from the others when showing respect for the deceased.

The ‘unusual ways to respect their loved ones’ is done in the Ma’Nene ritual. It is a festival to worship the ancestors that is held every three years at the end of August. So, when a person from the family passes away, the body is mummified with natural ingredients and buried under the rock tombs. It makes longer preservation of the corpse and allows the family to return to retrieve it.  The exhumation is their way to connect to their loved ones or to surpass it. The dust or debris from the bodies of the mummies are removed and dressed again. Their loved ones’ personal items, like sunglasses, hats, jewelry or any other personal items are left in their place. This festival has been going for more than a century where people from the tribe of Sulawesi disinter their dead. They bathe and wear the mummy a beautiful dress or fresh clothes. After that, they pose for memorable family photographs. The Torajans are very proud to display their dead relatives and dress them as a way for them to show respect to their loved ones. 

The Torajan people think that the funeral is one of the most important events in their lives. Most Torajan people save money for their entire life so that they can have a respectable funeral for themselves or for their family members. Some cases the funeral is held several weeks or years late so that the family members can save up and pay for the respectable funeral. Even though the funeral is not the last time they will see their loved ones. To prevent decay they use several layers of cloth and wear a protective mask to shield themself from the dust of the corpse.

“Death is not the end and should not be understood as sadness, but just one step in an ongoing spiritual life,”

believed the Torajans. They also believe that the spirit of the dead person always returns to their village of origin. If a villager dies away from home, family members venture out to retrieve their body and carry it home. Although this festival might seem to be weird and very unusual, this is the way of the local people to not fear death and to assure the dead a role in society even after their departure.

Editor: Clara Nathania & Handiko Wijaya

Reference :

Bryan Adinata