Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 329

then 2km south, is a stately village with
a dozen brilliantly finished tongkonan,
and a large flying-fox colony in the
neighbouring trees.
here's a very pleasant five-hour walk
due west to Ke'te' Kesu from here, though
the network of paths around Nanggala
means you really need a map or, better
still, a guide.

between sites. Seven kilometres from
Rantepao you reach Pangli , famed for its
balok (palm wine). Not much further, a
signed road off to the left leads past some
megaliths to Pallawa , whose tongkonan
are embellished with scores of buffalo
horns. For the more active, it's possible to
walk a large loop from here to Sa'dan,
though again you'll need a map. Back on
the main road, another 4km brings you
to a fork in the road: east is Sa'dan itself,
with a bizarre array of mausoleums and
an ikat market every six days; west is
Sangkombong , where local women will
demonstrate their weaving skills before
making their sales pitch.

North of Rantepao
If you're more interested in the living
than the dead, it's worth wandering north
from Terminal Bolu in Rantepao to
Sa'dan. Bemos along this road are
reasonably frequent, or you can walk

TORAJAN CULTURE AND FESTIVALS
Anthropologists place Torajan origins as part of the Bronze Age exodus from Vietnam;
Torajans say that their ancestors descended from heaven by way of a stone staircase, which
was later angrily smashed by the creator Puang Matua after his laws were broken. These laws
became the root of aluk todolo , the way of the ancestors. Only a fraction of Torajans now
follow the old religion, the strict practice of which was prohibited after head-hunting and
raunchy life-rites proved unacceptable to colonial and nationalist administrations. But its
trappings remain: everywhere you'll see extraordinary tongkonan and alang , traditional
houses and rice-barns, and the Torajan social calendar remains ringed with exuberant
ceremonies involving pig and buffalo sacrifices. Torajans are masters at promoting their
culture; positively encouraging outsiders to experience their way of life.
TORAJAN FESTIVALS
Ceremonies are divided into rambu tuka , or smoke ascending (associated with the east and
life), and rambu solo , smoke descending (associated with the west and death). A typical rambu
tuka ceremony is the dedication of a new tongkonan .
The biggest of all Torajan ceremonies are funerals , the epitome of a rambu solo occasion.
Held over several days, it begins with the parading of the oval co n, and traditionally, the first
afternoon ends with buffalo fights . The following day - or days, if it's a big funeral - is spent
welcoming guests, who troop village by village into the ceremonial field, led by a
noblewoman dressed in orange and gold, bearing gifts of balok (palm wine), pigs trussed on
poles and buffalo. The next day, the major sacrifice takes place: the nobility must sacrifice at
least 24 buffalo, with one hundred needed to see a high-ranking chieftain on his way. Finally,
the co n is laid to rest in a west-oriented house-grave or rock-face mausoleum, with a
tau-tau , a life-sized wooden e gy of the deceased, positioned in a nearby gallery facing
outwards, and - for the highest-ranking nobles - a megalith raised in the village ground.
ATTENDING TORAJAN CEREMONIES
Witnessing a traditional ceremony is what draws most visitors to Tanah Toraja, particularly
during the “peak festival season” in the agriculturally quiet period from June to September. To
visit a ceremony outsiders should really have an invitation , via a guide. As more participants
means greater honour, however, it's also possible to turn up at an event and hang around the
sidelines until somebody offers to act as your host. You are highly unlikely to be the only
foreigner attending; snap-happy tourists are part of the scenery, with each sacrifice a
photographic feeding frenzy. Make sure you take a gift for your hosts - a carton of cigarettes,
or a jerry can of balok - and hand it over when they invite you to sit down with them. Do not
sit down uninvited; dress modestly and wear dark clothing for funerals - a black T-shirt with
blue jeans is perfectly acceptable, as are thong sandals.

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