It took us three (3) hours to reach Rantepao. At the middle of our trip, we had a coffeebreak. I was told by the guide that if it were not for the darkness, I would be able to see a big surprise. I already had an inkling of what was it because of a painting in one of the walls of the restaurant but I did not pursue anymore. We arrived at our destination around midnight and checked in at the hotel.
I immediately noticed the predominance of images of carabaos as decors and reproductions of traditional houses called Tongkonan around the swimming pool. The hotel’s décor is overacting as even the water of the toilet bowl has bouganvilla petal on it ( like a spa). (Unique Photos, Page 1)
I started the first day with an early morning walk. I noticed that the Torajans are proud to decorate their houses and structures with carabao horns. It would appear that the more you have, the better as symbolic of one’s status, wealth and generosity.
I noticed that the rice fields has two sources of income namely rice and decorative fishes such as gold fish, etc. as the residents thereto put up water dugouts at the center of each paddy to accommodate the fishes should the rice fields dry up.
Our tour started with the visit to the graves and tau and tau.
I learned that the Torajans have the belief that they can bring along their possessions during death thus the exact places of burial grounds are kept secret to prevent the possessions from being stolen.
In most cases, the burial grounds are situated in caves. They then display woodcarving of images of the dead (tau tau) at the exterior of the cave as notice to the world that they are buried within the vicinity without revealing the exact whereabout.
If there are no cliff faces to carve a nitche on it, wooden house graves are created, or wooden coffins are hung from high cliffs.
Babies who died before teething are placed in hollowed-out sections of living trees at the upper portion thereof to symbolically ensure that heaven is the place where they would go.
Of all Torajans ceremonies, the most important is the funeral (tomate). Without proper funeral rites, it is their belief that the soul of the deceased would cause misfortune to the family.
The Torajan generally have two funerals, one immediately after death and the elaborate one after raising the necessary cash, obtaining livestock, gathering relatives from afar.
This is usually scheduled during the dry months of July to September. Before the second funeral, the deceased remain in the family house, preserved by injection.
The second funeral can be spread over several days and involve hundreds of guests. Because of the expense and the sacrifices, I noticed the neighbors and relatives are cooperative, anticipating that they would similarly need their help in the future.
Torajan believed that the souls of animals should follow their masters to the next life – hence the importance of animal sacrifices. It requires strong animals because of the rigorous journeys of valleys and mountains to be traversed.
The more important the person is the more buffaloes would be sacrificed.
Funeral ceremonies also include a traditional song and dance known as mabadong. It is a slow moving circular dance performed by men in black sarongs, who stand shoulder to shoulder and chant for hours.
On our way to Makassar, it was daytime thus allowing me this time to have a full view of the mountain formations likened to a big female reproductive organ (which was the big surprise they were earlier telling me).
I learned that the carabaos for them are important animals as their horns are directed to heaven when they stoop down,
Thank you very much Lord for this trip.