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.
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!!!!!!!
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