May 20, 2009

makassar: tana toraja

tana toraja is also known as land of the heavenly kings as the torajans believe their ancestors came fr heaven. and thus, funerals for the dead are often a unique and grand for the reason that the dead has to be sent back to heaven, the place he originated in. prior to this custom, its common for the torajans to keep the dead in their house for months or maybe years while saving for sufficient funds and waiting for the rice harvest. a proper funeral may usually last up to few days/weeks and the entire function will cost abt RM100,000 or more as many buffalos/goats/pigs will be slaughtered to mourn the dead *more like a celebration as there will be music/dance performance or even bull fighting during the funeral*.

nice greenery. a view fr the hotel we stayed.

passing by a village at mountain.

buffalo head on a traditional house, tongkonan. buffalo represents wealth in torajan culture.

hanging graves at lemo. coffins were inserted in the cliff and a tau-tau puppet which resembles the dead was placed in front of each grave. there is also a tree grave for dead babies which i forgot to take a pic. fact is, i suddenly became pantang so i din take any pic of graveyard!!

overlooking paddy field fr hanging graves.

hanging graves in background.

burial site.

the making of tau-tau. i call this a tau-tau gallery.

as if there is no paddy field in kelantan.

wiv our guide, najah.

had lunch here.

and the tamarilla juice was so heaven.

taxes were costly!!

nah, ladies, lesson learnt, dun ever ask for gender equality!!

a big catch of ikan bilis!!

at kete kesu, the most picturesque traditional torajan village. some of them are rice barns.

me waiting to go ladies room.

friends and najah set me up!! i was interviewed by local media for a tv programme of Visit Indonesia 2009. moral of story, dun imitate their accent while speak bahasa.

the horn-shaped rooftops of tongkonan are somewhat similar to minangkabau's.

the torajan town.

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