The next morning, we bought a large pack of cigarettes as gift and drove out to some remote village to attend the first day of a funeral. That was a pretty fascinating spectacle: a light sprinkling of Christian traditions (singing some hymns) was followed by hours long traditional ceremony that included the slaughter of buffalos and pigs and the parading of the deceased in their coffin around the village. Throughout this we were welcomed by the extensive family and encouraged to take many photos.
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The Hike.
It should be noted that the guest of honor had been dead since summer (a relatively short time) but the family needed time to save up enough money for the lavish funeral (the biggest party in Torajan culture). Most interestingly, the body is typically kept in the traditional family house during that time and the person is simply considered as being sick or sleeping.
We rounded out the day with a quick trek through the traditional villages and rice paddies.
Photos
Morning pick up from the hotel (Nov. 2023).Arriving at the funeral ceremony (Nov. 2023).Pig slaughter fields (Nov. 2023).Waiting for the Christian portion of the ceremony to be done before the party really gets going (Nov. 2023).Sitting down to some tea and sweet snacks with the other guests (we were encouraged to take photos; Nov. 2023).Jungle juice collection (Nov. 2023).Looking to get invited to lunch (Nov. 2023).At first, I was not impressed with jungle juice. But, by the third cup, I was coming over to that camp (Nov. 2023).Posing with the family – we were asked to by them (Nov. 2023).The coffin (Nov. 2023).The traditional coffin (for those who can afford something this elaborate; Nov. 2023).Chanting and swaying to the rhythm of rice being pounded. This went on for a while (Nov. 2023).Not my idea but I couldn’t say no (Nov. 2023).A selfie (Nov. 2023).Kids dressed in traditional ceremonial outfits. They were not impressed but Arru insisted that they pose with us (Nov. 2023).The coffin beginning its procession around the village (Nov. 2023).Leaving the family compound and heading out to the village (Nov. 2023).Procession going through the village (Nov. 2023).All dressed up (for slaughter; Nov. 2023).Tail end of the procession (Nov. 2023).On the streets of the village (Nov. 2023).Does look heavy (Nov. 2023).The coffin is rocked violently and periodically by the pallbearers to dislodge the soul from the body (Nov. 2023).Vegans welcome (Nov. 2023).The MC (Nov. 2023).Traditional funerary outfits for the kids (Nov. 2023).A parade of family members and guests (Nov. 2023).More chanting (Nov. 2023).Lots of meat (Nov. 2023).Meat and more meat (Nov. 2023).Chop chop (Nov. 2023).At the funeral (Nov. 2023).Off to slaughter. Pigs were more difficult to watch as they did not go quietly like the buffalo (Nov. 2023).More meat being prepared (Nov. 2023).Start of a little, afternoon hike through the rice paddies and villages (Nov. 2023).Traditional village but featuring houses with modernized materials (Nov. 2023).Arru, a villager working the fields, and Shirley (Nov. 2023).Local wildlife (Nov. 2023).Along the hike (Nov. 2023).Along the hike (Nov. 2023).Another charming cluster of traditional houses (Nov. 2023).Same place (Nov. 2023).A very green roof (Nov. 2023).Shirley in the village (Nov. 2023).Shirley and an old woman (Nov. 2023).On the hike (Nov. 2023).Think it’s a vanilla tree (Nov. 2023).A closer look (Nov. 2023).A cacao pod (Nov. 2023).Wrapping up the short hike (Nov. 2023).Coffee (Nov. 2023).On a short drive to another, showy village (Nov. 2023).On the left is a temporary funeral ceremony structure (Nov. 2023).Shirley and the smaller, rice granaries (Nov. 2023).A collection of buffalo horns (Nov. 2023).Shirley & Mr. Arru in the same village (Nov. 2023).Impressive structures (Nov. 2023).Arru demonstrating access to the rice granary (Nov. 2023).Modern mausoleums (Nov. 2023).Tana Toraja (Nov. 2023).Quite a collection (Nov. 2023).This is what happens to pack-a-day smokers (Nov. 2023).Tau tau (Nov. 2023).Arru and Shirley (Nov. 2023).A collection (Nov. 2023).Wood coffins used for storing collections of long-dead relatives’ bones (Nov. 2023).Tau tau (effigies; Nov. 2023).Jungle juice a.k.a. palm wine. First glass was a challenge but the fourth was almost enjoyable (Nov. 2023).
