This is the last big party before the spirit of the deceased ascends to heaven in the village of Kandeapi, in Toraja, South Sulawesi. Once the burial is complete, the sprit is finally released. It was a festive occasion, with the friends and family carrying the deceased in the procession from the festival site to […]
Indonesia 26 – Toraja 5 – Cave Burials
The funeral practices of the Toraja people are unique, as we have seen in the last few blog posts. They have been unique for centuries, though the specific practices have changed over the generations. We visited the Londa Burial Caves, to see an example of how the Torajan people managed their dead some 800 years […]
Indonesia 25 – Toraja 4 – Pig Heaven
Toraja society is organized along a strict caste system. The person’s caste, or class, is inherited through the mother, and it is strictly forbidden for a woman to marry a man of lower class. The noble, or upper class, is considered to be descended from a person who descended from heaven. When someone of the […]
Indonesia 23 – Toraja 2 – Raising the Dead
nickel
First off, we apologize for the amount of text in this blog post. Please read it all though. Torajan funerals are very complicated affairs that are likely completely foreign to anything you have ever seen or even considered. Without understanding some of this background, none of the photos or video will make sense. Funerals in […]