The death rites and burial sites in Tana Toraja first became famous more than 40 years ago when the Blair brothers, Lawrence and Lorne, arrived from the UK and made a film documentary recounting the lavish funeral of a  noble man. 

The deceased was Puang Sangalla, the last of the Torajan Kings. Hence the Blairs filmed one of the most notable ceremonies of death in Toraja. Chants, sacrifice of hundred of water buffaloes, skulls and bones, they had exclusive shots of the procession, up to the top of a cliff where the noble man was buried,

Through their works and pictures, the Blair brothers and later journalists, researchers, and tourists inspired many more to come to Toraja, which for hundreds of years was an isolated area.

Last September I went to Tana Toraja with Lia and Karina, friends from school. With them around the 10-hour drive north of Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, was bearable.

Karina was not comfortable being a funeral tourist. She felt like not respecting the dead by snooping around their final resting place.

Lia and I valued her feelings, so while we visited the burial sites of Londa, Lemo and Kambira, she either stayed in the car or watched children selling tickets to the sites.

The coffins of ordinary people are placed in caves and crevices in Londa, while those of higher rank have burial chambers carved inside the limestone cliff, accompanied by tau-tau (wooden or bamboo effigy). In Lemo, also a cliff burial site with galleries of ancestor statues, coffins are not kept in caves or crevices.

In Kambira, deceased infants were buried in Tarra trees (Artocarpus sp. a tree species in the same family with jackfruit). One tree can hold 20 babies placed upright, each identified by a door like structure. Eventually the babies became one with the sap flowing tree.

Death, we found out, is not the only attraction in Toraja.

On the way to and from Toraja we came across stunning spots. Gunung Nona is one of them. Many joke that it is an erotic hill because of the shape that resembles the most private part of a woman's body.

Our favorite picturesque site is Batutumonga, north of Rantepao, 1300 meters above sea level. While breathing the cool air, our eyes feasted on the magnificent greens of Toraja Valley.

In fertile rice-fields, farmers work leading water buffaloes to tilt the land. These domestic mammals, in different forms and materials, are permanent fixtures in Toraja, arranged in houses, burial sites and souvenir shops.

As we only stayed two nights in Toraja, there was so little time to seek eateries with Toraja cuisines.

We mostly had our meals at modest cabins selling Padang food, as we do not eat pork. Once in a while we managed a quick rest in one of the snack huts along the road. They sell famous Toraja Coffee and spices like vanilla in plastic bags. Globalization has reached even the remote parts of the country. Display racks show local snacks next to food produced my multinational companies.

Our driver stopped the car next to an open field where a group of men were preparing pa'piong, a culinary specialty. It is made of meat (either pork, water buffalo, chicken, or fish) mixed with grated coconut and vegetables (sometimes cassava leaves or banana stems) and seasoned with garlic, shallot, lemon grass, red eye chili, and some spices. The ancient cooking style with charcoal and bamboos presented an appetizing smell, distinct taste and textures.

Pictures from a blog, Travel Story, show how pa’piong looks like when it is ready, served with steamed white rice or black rice.

Traditionally, according to those at Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, a Toraja settlement consists of a compound of houses (tongkonan) and granaries (alangs), burials (liang), ceremonial grounds with menhirs (rante), rice-fields, bamboo forests, and grazing ground or pasture for buffalo and pigs.

We visited several compounds including Pallawa and Ke’te Kesu’ admiring the old and new wood carving with plants and animal motifs that decorate the traditional houses with boat-shaped roofs.

The main wall poles in front of the houses have buffalo heads and horns and carved decorations. Torajans carve wood to express social, cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs. At present there may be close to 70 motifs identified with red, white, yellow and black as dominant colors.

The motifs and colors of the woodcarving also apply for Toraja textiles.

With the influx of tourists, Torajans produce more colorful souvenirs like sarongs, necklaces, wooden boxes and trinkets. Even tau-tau, the wooden effigies of the dead become more colorful, for sale as memento.

Tana Toraja has changed since the Blair brothers made their documentary more than 40 years ago. It has developed into 2 regents: Tana Toraja and Toraja Utara with Makale and Rantepao as the respective capitals. A number of from young generation migrated to find jobs elsewhere, some are not interested in preserving their megalithic tradition.

The dead is still the main attraction for many who visit, but those who look further and deeper will indeed find Toraja's other charms.

-------------------------------

Text: Maira & Amanda Niode

Images: Omar Niode Foundation