This Indonesian Ethnic Group’s Rituals Of ‘Preserving Dead Bodies’ Will Shock You – News18

Do you know, there is a bizarre tradition followed by the people of the Torajan ethnic group of South Sulawesi, Indonesia? People from different parts of the world follow different traditions. You will be surprised to hear about the strange traditions that the people of Toraja area in south Sulawesi follow. They reminisce about their loved one in a very peculiar way after death. Like Indian traditions, they also have some special days in the year, in which they remember their ancestors – but not by worshipping but by performing a bizarre ritual. The tribe of the Tana Toraja area, consider inanimate objects to be alive. According to them, whether it is a human or an animal, all of them have a soul and they should be respected. They believe that death is not sudden, but a gradual process towards afterlife. For this reason, they do not immediately bury their loved ones after death. The body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and preserved under the tongkonan from decaying by a layer of formaldehyde and water. It is said they preserve the body for years. According to the belief of the Torajan people, a well-preserved corpse draws a good future, so families go to considerable extents to assure those who have deceased, stay in the best feasible condition.

They also perform some rituals like bathing and washing the corpse and putting on new clothes to the corpse, talking to them, taking their photographs, preparing food and drink, even giving them cigarettes to smoke, as if they are alive.

After the completion of the celebration, they clean the graves of the deceased and bury them there. This ritual is followed by them every year by singing and dancing. Not only this, animals ranging from buffalo to pigs are also sacrificed. The richer a person is, the more animals are slaughtered. Even the number extends up to 100. After the slaughter is done, the meat of those animals is fed to people who come into the gathering.