What is Tana Toraja famous for?
The Tana Toraja region is famed for its coffee. In your local coffee house it will cost a small fortune.
What is the Toraja death ritual about?
For Torajans, death is a gradual — and social — process. The bodies of people who have recently died are kept at home and preserved by their families, sometimes for years, until the family has enough money to pay for a funeral. The spirit of the dead is believed to linger in the world before the death ceremony is held.
Where does Toraja people come from?
The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja (“Land of Toraja”).
How is death viewed by the Tana Toraja?
Death is something that is unavoidable. Instead, the deceased are referred to as “to Makala” (a sick person) or “to mama” (a person who is asleep). …
Where do sky burials take place?
Tibet
It is practiced in the Chinese provinces and autonomous regions of Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, as well as in Mongolia, Bhutan and parts of India such as Sikkim and Zanskar. The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana Buddhist traditions as charnel grounds.
What is the Toraja house made of?
Indian cloth
It was built on four poles and the roof was made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the heavenly house and held a big ceremony.
What is traditional Toraja decoration?
The Toraja decorate their houses with images of buffalos and cocks. The buffalos are a symbols of prestige and the cocks are messengers to the afterlife. Traditional Toraja houses are supposed to be possessed only by upper-class families. They are not simply dwellings; they are visual symbols of descent.
What is the history of Tana Toraja Island?
Tana Toraja – Torajaland or Toraja Island lies in the highlands of Sothern Sulawesi and is home to the bulk of Toraja individuals, whose history go back 5000 years. Some clans from Southern China are leaving from the local war ultimately made it all the method to Sulawesi where they calmed down.
What is the name of the capital of Toraja?
Capital of Toraja is Makale but visitors usually head to the town of Rantepao, the heart of Tana Toraja – the Land of the Toraja people.
Why are there so many tourists in Toraja?
Tourists to Toraja, therefore, are either attracted by its unique culture and rituals, most of which are mostly centered around graves and death ceremonies.
What kind of ceremonies does the Toraja tribe have?
Toraja is most well known for its elaborate funeral ceremonies that can take days and involve entire villages. These are not only moments for mourning but are moreover events to renew family ties and to ensure continued unity among villages and communities.