The Torajan People Living in the Same House as the Dead of Family Members

The Torajan people describe their interesting rituals as “It may seem strange to some, but this is ours. part of our culture and uniqueness” defines as.

Also known as the “Land of the Dead”, the people living in this place, after performing musical funerals, mingle with the dead. for weeks, months and sometimes years they live together.

They continue to give water, food and cigarettes to dead bodies.

When a family member dies, they act by thinking that he is not actually dead. As they say, they rather than being considered dead. They think like they’re sick.

Based on this thought; to mummified corpses they give food, they drink water And they even offer cigarettes.

At night they pray with the dead.

At the same time, the Torajans, who have faith in God, thinking you’re asleep at night they leave the lights on in the chambers of the dead for them.

living together at home for the soul of the dead body They perform prayer rituals. Moreover, sometimes they do these prayers with the dead.

Members of the upper class live with the dead for up to several years.

According to cultural expert Yacob Kakke, people whose financial situation is not good usually die for the dead. they only keep a few weeks and then they hold a funeral.

The so-called middle class can keep them for several months. People belonging to the upper class, on the other hand, keeping them with them for up to a few years they live with them.

They see cattle as a vehicle that carries people to the other world.

At the time of the funeral, all relatives commemorate the transition from life to death gathering for. Thinking that cattle are a means of passage to the other world, they sacrifice a cattle in the ceremony.

Torajans, if cattle are not sacrificed when someone dies that the transition to the other world will not be quick They give importance to the ritual of sacrifice because they believe.

The rituals do not end here either, the deceased is exhumed every year!

The relatives of the deceased go to their graves once a year and call them “ma’nene”. the second burial is performing. In this ceremony, the dead body, whose physical form has changed, is exhumed. Their rotten clothes are removed, they are dressed in new ones, they are decorated with accessories and they pray for him and take pictures with the corpse.

These rituals, which seem interesting to all of us, are a part of their lives for them. Torajans, from a very young age coping with death and learning to see it as part of their journey.