Life and Death in the Tana Toraja Regency

By Thaddeus Bayston

The Tana Toraja regency is a mountainous region in South Sulawesi Indonesia. This beautiful region is home to a very secluded folk religion based around the idea that life and death coexist. The Aluk Todolo’s complex funeral practices have existed for hundreds of years. During these extravagant events, hundreds of people gather in small villages to participate in sending their loved ones to the next life.

In ancient Aluk Todolo culture, animism was one of the most common beliefs. This idea stated that all objects, including non human entities have souls. As migration first began in Indonesia, Christianity and Islam began making its way into the Tana Toraja regency. Now out of the areas 650,000 person population, the majority of the people are Christian and Muslim with only a small minority still believing in the Aluk Todolo faith.

In the 21st Century the Aluk Todolo faith has changed dramatically. With the influx of new money in the region, natives from the area have access to recourses they did not have before. This has created overwhelming increase in the amount of money spent on the Aluk Todolo’s extravagant funerals. Followers save money their entire lives in order to finance deceased family members burials. If a family is unable to pay for a funeral immediately following the earthly death of their family members, the deceased will be cared for by their family maintaining an everyday presence in their lives.

The Water Buffalo plays a very significant role in the Aluk Todolo religion. During funerals, water buffalo are sacrificed so that deceased family members have spirits accompanying them in the next life. Because of the demand for Water Buffalo in the region, the animal can be priced as high as 20,000 USD. Depending on how wealthy a family is, hundreds of Water Buffalo can be sacrificed for a single funeral. The animals are killed in front of the massive crowd, after this gorey scene, the meat is then distributed to the guests of the funeral. The Water Buffalo’s horns are saved and used as decoration outside the Aluk Todolo’a people’s homes. The more horns displayed, the wealthier a family is.

After the sacrificing is completed, the earthly body of the deceased is carried around the village for a final goodbye of their earthly home. The body is then taken and buried in a cave where it begins its “journey to the land of souls”. If children die before they start teething, their bodies are placed inside holes carved into trees. As the tree begins to heal, the Aluk Todolo believe the child’s spirit becomes a part of the tree.

This unique folk culture is one of the many across the world that is being threatened by popular culture. The media has publicized Aluk Todolo religion as “Barbaric”. The beliefs and practices of the religion are often misunderstood by westerners causing a gradual decline in Aluk Todolo believers.