Wednesday 4 March 2015

The Peculiar Burial Rites Of Tana Toraja

image credit: Matt Paish

The picturesque mountainous region of South Sulawesi, in Indonesia, is home to an ethnic group called the Toraja. These simple minded people who practise animism - the view that all non-human entities such as animals, plants, and even inanimate objects or phenomena possess a spiritual essence, have developed some of the most elaborate funeral rites in the world.

These include tree burials reserved for infants who died before teething, and parading of mummies who died decades ago. Toraja funeral rites are important social events and occasions for entire families to gather, and for villagers to participate in communal events, renewing relationships and reconfirming beliefs and traditions in the way of the ancestors.

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