On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, among the picturesque mountains, there is a people who call themselves Toraji and practice animism. These people believe that everything in the world has a soul - not only animals and plants, but even inanimate objects and natural phenomena. The funeral rituals of the Toraja are also associated with this belief - some of the most unusual and bizarre on our planet.
Babies who die before their teeth erupt are buried in tree trunks, and the mummies of those who died decades ago are paraded.
A funeral for Toraja is an extremely important social event, a reason for relatives to get together, for villagers - to strengthen or renew good neighborly relations. These ceremonies are carried out in strict accordance with the traditions and beliefs of the ancestors. And such a funeral continues for a long time.
When a representative of the Toraja people dies, the family of the deceased conducts several multi-day funeral ceremonies, but they do not begin immediately. The fact is that an ordinary family, as a rule, cannot quickly raise the funds necessary for a funeral.
We have to postpone them for weeks, months, or even years - until a sufficient amount can be accumulated. All this time, the deceased lies embalmed in a specially designated room under the same roof with the living members of his family. Until all the ceremonies are held in accordance with all the rules, a person is considered not dead, but simply sick.
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As soon as the required amount is collected, the ceremonies begin. The first step is to slaughter buffaloes and pigs during ritual dances. The more powerful the deceased was, the more cattle are slaughtered in his honor - sometimes the score goes to tens and hundreds.
Graves are carved into rocky mountains and decorated with wooden images of the dead
After that, it comes directly to burial, but the people of Torozhdi very rarely bury their dead in the ground. Most often, bodies are placed in niches carved in the mountains, or wooden coffins are hung in the rocks.
The graves carved into the mountains are very expensive, taking several months to make. Hanging coffins are usually richly decorated, but over time, the tree begins to rot and the bones fall down.
For the burial of infants who died before the teeth appeared. Toraja has a special tradition. Their bodies are wrapped in cloth and placed in holes made in the trunks of living trees, which are then covered with palm fiber doors and sealed.
After a while, the tree begins to tighten the "wound", absorbing a small body. There may be more than a dozen such graves in one tree.
After the deceased is buried, the feast begins. Then everyone goes home. But the funeral rituals are not complete. Every year, in August, a ritual called "manene" is held. The bodies of the dead are removed, washed and changed into new clothes. After that, the mummies "march" throughout the village like zombies..
The strange funeral rituals of the Toraja attract many tourists and anthropologists to the island every year. Since 1984, Tana Toraja has been the second most popular destination in Indonesia after Bali.