TORAJA- A LAND OF UNIQUE CULTURE

Hi, it is me again Tisha. Now, I would like to talk about my second part of my holidays in Makassar. My family and I visited Toraja- a land of unique culture. We hired an MPV from Makassar and the journey took about 8 hours to reach there. Toraja is located in the highlands. The weather there is cool. As we travelled, our eyes feasted on the beautiful sceneries and natural landscapes.

The Torajan people are very unique. The name Toraja means people who live in a highland. Their house is also a very unique house which is called the ‘Tongkonan House’. On every houses, they will build a rice barn. So, after harvesting the paddy, they will keep the rice in their rice barns. Some Torajans are rich. But how do we know? By counting the number of rice barns in the shape of ‘Tongkonan Houses’. Most Torajans will have at least 1 rice barn. The super rich Torajans will have more than 10 rice barns.

Most Torajans are paddy farmers and they use water buffaloes to plough their paddy fields. The Torajans are very skillful in cultivating their narrow stripped rice terraces. 

As such, the scenery of the rice terraces is a sight to behold. The beautiful scenery of Toraja cannot be expressed in words.

The Torajans have a unique culture. I really admire their loyalty and respect towards their dead family members. When a member in the family dies, the family will embalm the body and place it in the southern part of their ‘Tongkonan House’.  During the time before these ceremonies, the dead person is regarded as merely “sick” and is fed and visited everyday. According to a local, family members take turns to sleep with the body for 4 to 7 years until they have saved enough money to bury the dead in the stone grave. After having saved enough money, the deceased’s family will carry out the last rites for the deceased.  If the deceased is rich and of noble birth, then their coffin will be placed high up into tombs chiseled on the rocky mountain slope. According to our guide, workers will take about 2 years to chisel a stone grave big enough for one family to be buried in it. When an ordinary person dies, he or she will be placed (on the ground) in a cave.

We visited a few popular tourist sites. One of the most popular tourist destination is Ke’te’ Kesu’ which is famous for the hanging graves. Ke’te’ Kesu’also houses a row of very ancient Tongkonan houses, rice barns and megaliths set among the rice fields. 

I visited the aristocratic cliffs burial site with hanging graves and tau-tau (wooden effigy of the dead). 

The wooden hanging graves are very old and most of them are dilapidated graves with their scattered bones and skulls.

Another place that we visited is the Lemo Carved Stone Grave in Liang di Pa’. The grave is believed to be the first grave of its kind which belonged to a nobleman called Sangngi Patalo. 

The stone graves have been dug out of the steep cliff, and closed with wooden doors. In front of each graves stand a row of effigies, Tau-tau, of the noblemen whose bodies are buried there.

Another stone grave that we visited is the old grave at Londa which dates back more than two hundred years B.C. It is the largest cave stone grave in Toraja land and some of the graves are 70 metres high from the base lands.

Another burial site that tourists must visit is Lo'ko' Mata. It is probably the largest burial site in North Toraja with numerous tombs chiseled on the   huge rock.

The next place that we visited is Bori’ Kalimbuang. There are one hundred and two megalite stone pillars placed in a special field here. This place is just for a high caste deceased whose funerals ceremonies are categorized as “Sapu Randanan” whereby at least 24 buffaloes are slaughtered.

Another type of grave that I must mention is the Baby Graves in Trees. If a baby dies before teething, it will be buried in a tree. The local superstition is that the next child born will grow as strong as a tree. The tree also acts as the host mother to the deceased.

The land of Toraja is not only about graves but they also have beautiful sceneries and landscapes. 

One such place is Batutumonga which is the most spectacular area situated on the slopes of the Sesean Mountain. From the hill resort, I could see the dramatic panaroma and overview of Rantepao town.

Toraja is a place worth visiting and you have to come here to see and to experience this unique culture yourself. I really had a wonderful and an enjoyable time in Toraja and I have learnt a lot from the people of Toraja.

Bye- bye Toraja!!!!!!!