3 Tourism Tradition in Tana Toraja

Toraja tribe is the tribe who settled in the mountainous northern part of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, word toraja comes from the Bugis language, to Riaja, which means "one who dwells in the land above".

Tana Toraja has outstanding natural beauty ranging from the row of green mountains and foothill. Beside rich in natural, tourist attractions d Indonesia is also rich ancestral culture that is still maintained today. 

Here, there are many ancient traditions are still preserved, one of which is the Signs Solo '.

3 Tourism Tradition in Tana Toraja

1. Tradisi Ma’nene

One of the distinctive traditions of Tana Toraja that has become a tourist destination popular tradition for local and foreign tourists are Ma'nene tradition. 

Ma'nene tradition is a tradition in memory of ancestors by cleaning and replacing clothes the bodies of the ancestral people of Tana Toraja.

This tradition is specifically carried out by people living in rural Baruppu North Toraja.

For the people in the region Baruppu, dead bodies or the bodies of relatives is an integral part of the surviving family members.

In addition, the Society Baruppu have confidence that although the bodies of the dead, the ancestors remain "alive" and keep an eye on the offspring of another nature.

Hence, every 3 years or about August when the harvest is over, do the "cleansing" of the bodies or the bodies of their relatives. 

The trick is to issue a "mummy" corpse from the coffin to be cleaned and replaced his clothes with new clothes. Not only dressed in new clothes, the bodies of the ancestors is also dressed neatly righteously who will attend a party.

Casket containing the remains of the ancestors is ejected from the burrow rock. Later, the bodies of ancestors who were inside the crate also issued while accompanied by the reading of prayers in the ancient language Toraja. 

Once issued, the bodies are removed and cleaned from head to toe with a clean cloth.

Once cleared, the bodies are dressed up, dressed in new clothes, and erected. 

Families corpse is usually assumed, establish, and maintain the bodies that do not touch the ground because it is a taboo in this tradition.

Uniquely, the bodies of the ancestors of the Toraja people can stand up straight and walk like a still life. It is believed to occur because of the prayers and incantations were said over the elders and leaders of the tradition before the tradition began.

Do not try to touch the bodies that are standing or walking. If the corpses are standing or walking is exposed to the touch, spell or hypnotic effect will be lost and the bodies will fall. 

In addition, the person who touches the corpse until the fall is the person who shall rouse the body was returned to its original position. 

The tourists are present in this tradition would normally strongly reminded by the traditional elders who lead this tradition.

Tana Toraja society believe that the bodies of these ancestors would walk home to their respective homes. When I got home, the bodies will lie as usual.

For the unique culture of this one, we should be proud. Because, most of the foreign tourists were keen to see the tradition of "mummy" is often considered this impossible. 

It was said, like seeing the series The Walking Dead in the real world!

If you want to see first hand this tradition, make sure you come to Tana Toraja around the month of July-August. 

You are also advised to make preparations with a mature one is airfare. Message to the city of Makassar on air tickets from far-away days for you to get cheap fares.

2. Upacara Rambu Solo

If Ma'nene tradition is a ritual "cleansing" the remains of the ancestors, another case with Ceremony Signs Solo which is a special burial ritual for people who have died.

Tana Toraja is known as one of the areas in Indonesia which still has a strong belief in the occult and mystical. 

Therefore, the people of Tana Toraja has many cultures and traditions relating to the bodies, spirits, or other mystical things.

This then becomes an attraction for tourists both local and foreign tourists to visit Tana Toraja.

For the people of Tana Toraja, people who have died are considered as people who are sick.

On the basis of these beliefs, those who have died are still hospitalized and treated like people who live with one of them provided with food and drinks, cigarettes, betel, and a variety of other offerings.

Tana Toraja communities have confidence that the deceased person must be given a decent burial ceremony with certain rules.

Without doing funerals Signs Solo, supposedly the spirit of the deceased will provide disaster and misfortune for the people or the relatives he left behind.

Ceremony Signs Solo is a burial ceremony that consists of a series of events that quite a lot, entails substantial costs, as well as preparation for months. 

During the wait for the preparation of this ceremony, the bodies of the dead were not buried but were housed in the ancestral house (Tongkonan) wrapped in a cloth first.

One characteristic of this ceremony is obliged to cut their activities, buffaloes and pigs to the amount specified traditional elders. 

Typically, the richer and higher a person's rank in Toraja, funerals incurred costs would be more expensive.

If the people who died were from the nobility, the royal family should hold a ceremony Signs Solo with buffalo and pork chop around 24 to 100 individuals. 

One among the number of buffalo has to be a famous striped buffalo have a very fantastic price of about 500 million to 1 billion.

The unique thing at once tense of this ceremony is buffaloes become the sacrificial animals should not be cut, but cut by a single stroke sharp machete to his neck. 

The buffalo will immediately die collapsed shortly after the machete blow.

Tana Toraja society had kepercaaan that the spirits of the deceased person in need of buffalo to travel towards Puya or hereafter. 

The more buffalo are slaughtered, the faster the spirits also will get to Puya.

Signs Solo ceremony usually lasts 2-3 days and begins at the time of the day. For the nobility, this ceremony usually lasts about two weeks long. 

Other activities at the ceremony in addition to cutting buffalo is preparing graves for the bodies to be buried.

The graves are made at the top of the mountain from a high rock. Tana Toraja society believe that the higher the body is located, the faster the corpse spirits also get to heaven or nirvana.
 

The ceremony is also equipped with music, singing, songs, poems, and so forth. During the ceremony, the bodies of the deceased person remains in the ancestral home (Tongkonan). 

The corpse spirits believed to still be in the village or in the neighborhood until the ceremony was over. 

After the ceremony is complete, the new body will be buried in the tomb he had prepared. That's when the Tana Toraja people believe that the spirits of the bodies will begin the journey towards Puya.

For those of you who want to witness the ceremony, you are advised to contact the travel agent that provides excursions to Toraja ceremony Signs Solo list as one of the remarkable destinations. 

The reason, this ceremony does not take place within the routine, but only held when there is one of the people who died Toraja. 

Usually, travel agents have a special link that will give you information when the ceremony in Tana Toraja Signs Solo held.

If you do not want to use a travel agent, please travel to Tana Toraja's backpacker style. 

Instincts or your instinct is needed here. If lucky, you'll get to Tana Toraja Signs Solo just as the ceremony took place.

3. Kete Kesu

Switching from traditional tourist destinations, Tana Toraja also has a natural tourist destinations that is no less unique, namely Kete Kesu. 

Kete Kesu is a tourism village in North Toraja Regency is located approximately 4 km to the southeast Ratenpao.

The village has become a tourist attraction is located in the hills and paddy fields so that landscapes were presented were very green and lush. 

In the village there is a complex Kete Kesu Toraja traditional house called Tongkonan. Tongkonan this is often a temporary storage place for the corpse which had been wrapped in cloth before burial.

Moreover, at the top of the mountain from Kete Kesu, there are stone tombs which are ancient relics that are thought to have hundreds of years old. 

In Toraja, a coffin where to keep the body usually placed in caves for no particular stone buried in the ground. Therefore, not infrequently also coffins also once considered a grave.

On the cliff top, there is a grave stone coffin at the same time that resembles a boat. At the cemetery in the form of a boat, there are skulls and bones of humans who have died tens to hundreds of years ago. 

At some point the cliff, there are also a variety of offerings that consists of cigarettes and a variety of food and beverages. 

That said, the offerings presented in these graves contain snacks which are favored by the deceased during his lifetime.

Going down to the bottom of the cliff, you will find the tombs of the shape of a house with a very large size. 

In front of this tomb placed human figures made to resemble the deceased person. Usually, the people who died were buried in the tomb of this type are people who come from certain circles in Toraja.

Along the wall of the cliff to get to the bottom, there is also the tomb are covered with iron bars. Inside the tomb were covered by iron bars, there are statues of the bodies of certain family members. 

Moreover, usually the family possessions body was also put into the tomb barred. Therefore, the iron bars installed with the aim to prevent the theft of the statue as well as property belonging to the corpse.

In addition to a boat-shaped and shaped holes in the cliff, there is also the tomb once coffin carved and shaped neatly carved buffalo and pigs. 

Coffin-shaped buffalo usually reserved for male bodies, whereas pigs coffin shaped bodies usually reserved for women.

Switching from mystical tombs and coffins, in the Kete Kesu is also available a special row of souvenir shops hawking souvenirs typical of Tana Toraja. 

One typical souvenirs Tana Toraja is the most famous wood carvings with various motifs. Motif attached to wood carving is usually the animal and plant motifs that symbolize goodness and prosperity.