Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

I am always fascinated by the different cultures of people from different areas of the world. People of Tana Toraja, Sulawesi hold their customs and practices dearly to their heart. I was so lucky to be able to spend time with this community, a community that is well known all over the world for not burying their dead.

Death for them is an event to be celebrated and respected accordingly. I would strongly encourage you to visit this highland in the interior of Sulawesi, 8 hours by overnight bus from Makassar. You would be enlightened and amused all the same once you are there.

I went to this place in between my Indonesia multi-city tour covering Makassar, Tana Toraja and Jakarta between 20th and  27th December 2015. Here are some photos for you readers.

Tongkonan structure

Tongkonan under conservation

Cave burial

Old wooden coffin with human bones and skulls displayed

More human bones and skulls on the ground

Apart from being used to store rice, tongkonan is also used to store dead bodies

Figurines of the dead people whose bodies are inside this tongkonan are carved out from the trunk of jack fruit tree (pokok nangka). The features have to be as close as possible to features of the dead people when they were alive. You can tell that this tongkonan houses the bodies of an old couple since long ago. This practice is observed everywhere in Tana Toraja.

Human like figurines of dead people on display in a burial ground