Toraja

The People of Toraja Tour

Toraja cultural tour & trekking in scenic countryside of Tana Toraja

Green rice paddies and limestone karst rocks form the landscape of the Toraja plateaus, the lands of the People of Toraja, an ethnic group which, although converted to Christianity by the Dutch missionaries, continues to practice the ancestral animist rites. Intense Toraja funerary rituals are the manifestation of an ancestral cultural heritage of an ethnic entity that is defined around the animistic beliefs of the Aluk To Dolo (Way of the Ancestors). Isolated for centuries by the impervious nature of the region and by the lack of roads, the Toraja have kept their traditions intact. This is a tour in Tana Toraja with the perfect mix of culture and adventure: dramatic rites and sacrifices, green landscapes with cool temperatures, and great cups of coffee.

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Toraja village with characteristic Tongkonans

Tongkonan and horns of buffaloes sacrificed in funerals

Group of monlith on a Toraja burial site

Group of tau tau on a Toraja burial site

Group of Toraja women elegantly dressed for the funeral

Scenic ricefield terraces of Tana Toraja

Tongkonan house, wood carving with symbolic designs and buffalo head

Toraja countryside landscape with peaked-roof traditional houses

More important the families are, the more buffaloes are sacrificed

Deceased is buried in a hanging coffin placed on cliff

The Tau Tau wears the clothes that belonged to the dead person

Deceased is buried in a cave or in a space dug into rock wall

Toraja monolith: represents a dead person

Deceased is buried in a hanging coffin placed on cliff

Toraja baby's coffin is placed inside a living tree

Toraja tau tau: carved wooden figures of buried people

Group of Torajan girls getting ready for the funeral

Group of Torajan women attending to the funeral

sacrifices of buffalo and pigs in Toraja funeral

Attendees to Toraja funeral

Toraja countryside surrounded by scenic ricefields

Toraja countryside: water buffalo bathing in the mud

Toraja ricefield terraces

Toraja countryside: buffalo and calf

Toraja countryside

Toraja highlands

Wood carving with symbolic ethnic designs

The Funerals of the Toraja

The Toraja are known for their elaborate and unique funerals. Before the ceremony the body of the deceased can be kept in the house for years, until the family can have enough money for the ceremony. The funeral begins with ritual dances, sacrifices of buffalo and pigs, killed so that they can accompany the soul of the deceased in new life. The richer and more important the families are, the more buffaloes are sacrificed. Later the body of the deceased is buried in a cave or in a space dug into rock wall or in a hanging coffin placed on cliff. A baby’s coffin is placed inside a living tree, which is called a “baby tree.” Outside the rock wall there are carved wooden figures, the tau tau, with the features of the buried person. These figures also wear the clothes that belonged to the dead person.

Toraja funeral — _{The Toraja are known for their elaborate and unique funerals}

Toraja sacrifice — _{The funeral begins with ritual sacrifices of buffalo and pigs those accompany the soul of the deceased in new life}

Toraja burial hanging coffin — _{The body of the deceased is buried in a hanging coffin placed on cliff}

Toraja tau tau — _{The carved wooden figure, Tau Tau, features the buried person}

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Tongkonan, the traditional houses and class affiliation of the Toraja

The typical houses called Tongkonan, are built of wood, raised from the ground by poles, with a straw roof, shaped like a saddle. The Toraja landscape is therefore characterised by these houses, and from the cliffs with the tombs and tau tau hanging outside, in the middle of the rice fields.

The house is very important because it is the residence of the clan, the extended family, often, especially in the case of wealthy families, the front is decorated with the horns of buffaloes sacrificed in funerals and beautiful ethnic designs. The Toraja society was originally formed of three castes: nobles, people and slaves, the class was inherited from the mother.

Toraja tongkonan — _{The typical houses called Tongkonan, with a straw roof, shaped like a saddle}

Toraja burial site — _{Toraja landscape is characterised by the cliffs with the tombs and tau tau hanging outside}

Toraja ricefields — _{Toraja villages are spots in the countryside surrounded by scenic ricefields}

Toraja ethnic designs — _{The Tongkonan is the residence of the clan or extended family with particular beautiful ethnic designs}

Toraja buffalo head ornament — _{The Tongkonan is decorated with the horns of buffaloes sacrificed in funerals and the sculpture of buffalo head}

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The tour in Tana Toraja

Lavish terraced rice fields, rushing rivers that are excellent for rafting, mountains that form a picturesque and relaxing environment, landscapes of vibrant vegetation, small towns, colorful markets and friendly people; these are the lands of Toraja.