New on 500px : Funeral Ceremony by roberto_pazzi by roberto_pazzi

A moment of a Torajans funeral rite.
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the “sleeping stage”. Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at the land of soul if they have many buffalo. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as “gifts”, which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased’s family.

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New on 500px : Tau-Tau by roberto_pazzi by roberto_pazzi

The wealthy Torajans are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. A wood-carved effigy (called “tau-tau”), is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land.

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New on 500px : Stone Graves by roberto_pazzi by roberto_pazzi

The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi (Indonesia).
Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses (“tongkonan”), and colorful wood carvings.
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy (called “tau-tau”), is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land.

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New on 500px : Timeless Village by roberto_pazzi by roberto_pazzi

The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi (Indonesia).
Torajans are renowned for their massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan (the buildings in the picture).
Kete’ Kesu, the village in the picture, is one of the oldest Toraja’s villages.
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity.
Today, most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk (“the way”).

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