Deep in central Indonesia, a place called Tana Toraja, also known as the “Land of the dead”, is a mysterious cultural practice.
The Torajan people on the mountainous Indonesian island of Sulawesi have some of the most musically elaborate funeral rituals on the planet. In a practice that many foreigners would find shocking, the people of Toraja keep the bodies of their deceased relatives at home, feeding and cuddling them until burial. The Torajans mummify the bodies of the deceased and tend to them as if they were still alive. Once they are finally buried, they are unearthed annually for commemoration.
The Torajans believe that after death, the soul remains in the house, so the dead are treated to food, clothing, water cigarettes, and any favorite thing the dead liked while they were alive. Their skin and flesh are preserved from decaying and rotting- which begins within days of death by a coating of formaldehyde and water. Because the stench is so strong, the family stores dried plants beside the body to mask the odour.
According to their belief, a well-preserved body brings good fortunes. In view of this, the family goes to great lengths to ensure that the body remains in the best possible shape until the death ceremony (funeral rite). Torajans learn from a very tender ageto deal with death and to accept it as part of the journey of life.
Torajans believe that the soul of the deceased remains in the world until the death ceremony (funeral) is carried out. They do not mind keeping the bodies of their deceased relatives for years in order to save for the purchase of a water buffalo, which is sacrificed before the body is sent into the Puya(land of the spirits). The cost of the water buffalo is approximately 355,500.00 cedis. Surprised? Until the family can afford to buy a water buffalo, the corpse will continue to reside in the house with the family. According to their belief, the water buffalo facilitates the entrance of the deceased’s soul into the Puya. For the deceased’s soul to be pulled faster into the Puya, more water buffalos must be sacrificed to ensure this. The faster the soul is pulled into the Puya, the earlier the soul gets to rest.
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