Funeral rites in Torajaland

Torajan culture is probably most famous for its elaborate funeral ceremonies. These are giant social events that can go on for days where the entire village and community usually attends. Often the family of the deceased will save up money for years to pay for these funeral ceremonies.

Needless to say it is quite a party, complete with dancing, chanting, poetry, and lots of animal sacrifice and subsequent feasting. At the one I attended dozens of water buffalo were sacrificed and hundreds of squealing pigs! It is not for the faint of heart, though sitting around with local Torajan families watching the festivities for a while it started to feel oddly like a family reunion of sorts. Minus the visceral animal sacrificing and colorful and exotic ceremonies the Torajans were just being social and paying tribute to their family elders as the rest of us. Perhaps after so much travel the superficial differences we have fall away easier and we're free to see all our commonalities come into focus.