Honoring the Dead: The Unique Burial Practices of the Tana Torajan of Indonesia

Figure 1: Burial of a deceased individual in a rock cave (Source: Alamy)

 

Death is an inevitable fact of existence. As such cultural groups around the world have developed a series of rituals, beliefs, and values concerning death and the dead.  This results in a variety of different ways of viewing, understanding, and interacting with death and the dead.  Today’s blog post will address the unique burial practices of the Tana Torajan of Indonesia, who practice death rituals that are quite different from Western cultural groups practice.

 

The Tana Torajan cultural group live in the highlands of one of the Indonesia Islands.  Traditionally animists the Tana Torajan were introduced to Christianity in the early 1900s durng Dutch colonialism of Indonesia.  Today many Tana Torajan identify as Christians, and they interweave those beliefs into their native cultural traditions.  It is believed that the late contact with the Western world is in part why the Tana Torajan maintain several of their traditional ways of life, despite the changes to them as a result of that contact.

 

The Tana Torajan do not fear death.  They accept it as part of what happens to everyone.  Death is not the end but another phase of existence, one that the living must help the deceased with since the deceased have minimal control over their afterlives.  The afterlife is called the Puya, and the quality of one’s afterlife is dependent on how the living treat them in and after death.  This means the living family members and close loved ones of the deceased have a great responsibility to them.

 

Figure 2: Tau tau figurines (Source: Alamy)

  

Funerary rituals among the Tana Torajan, known as Rambu Solo, are very complex.  They are completed over several days (between five and 30 days) and require a number of rituals, feasts, celebrations, and animal sacrifices.  The costs can reach the hundreds of thousands of dollars as the living must provide the most extravagant send off to ensure a quality afterlife for the deceased.  The Rambu Solo also serves the dual purpose of acting as a family reunion as members of the family, near and far, come together to celebrate the deceased.  This is also an opportunity to pass on family stories and information, share in inheritance, embrace the arts, and more. 

 

Due to the costs of the Rambu Solo not all individuals can provide an immediate funeral for their deceased loved ones.  If and when this occurs the dead are left in the custody of the living, and the dead are treated like a living but very sick family member.  The living have no qualms over the dead or the decomposition process that takes place, of which they are very aware of.  To avoid some of the more unsavory aspects of these natural processes the bodies are often artificially mummified. 

 

After the Rambu Solo funerary rituals are complete the body is laid to rest in either a rock cave in the mountains or a crypt (Figure 1).  If a cave is used there are tau tau statues left outside of the cave to demarcate the location as a burial cave.  Tau tau statues are caved jackfruit wood statues that represent human figures (Figure 2).

 

Figure 3: Ma'nene Ritual involving family sharing information with the deceased (Source: Alamy)

 

Every three years after the interment of the deceased the Ma’nene ceremony takes place (Figure 3).  This a three day ritual that occurs every August starts with days of prayer by the family.  On the third day the deceased is disinterred.  The body is washed, dressed in new clothing and wrapped in a fresh cloth, the crypt or cave cleaned, and offerings of food, beverages, and luxuries (e.g., cigarettes and candies) are provided to the deceased.  Living relatives and loved ones also share information with the deceased, celebrating the life that once was.  The purpose of this ritual is to remember the dead, as well as provide children born after the death of the deceased the opportunity to meet and learn about their dead relative.

 

These rituals are incredibly important, and failure to complete them leads to catastrophic consequences.  It is believed that the restless dead will cause harm to the living, including but not limited to failed harvests.  This ensures the living continue taking care of the dead, even if they may not want to.  As these rituals serve as a means of sharing family information, wealth, and culture they help preserve the Tana Torajan way of life.  Additionally, they reaffirm family ties, particularly with geographically distant family members.

 

Works Cited

Putra, Ahmad Suthami, et al. "Ma'nene' Ritual" Ethnographic Study of Ma'nene' Ritual Practices in Toraja." Journal of Advanced Zoology (2023): 404-408. Print.

St. Jean, Julie. "The Ma'nene Ceremony." Heritage Daily 12 August 2023. Electronic.

Tahir, M. Dalyan, Hunaeni Hunaeni and Sylver Tri Poetra. "Learning Local Wisdom through the Symbols of Ma’nene’ Rituals in North Toraja: A Semiotic Perspective." The Journal of Ultimate Research and Trends in Education (2020): 108-120. Print.