Long time ago in a cave at the village of Sillanan, human corpses had been found intact, do not decay until nnw. The corpse was not embalmed like the Egyptian people nor given a potion Ancient or anything. But it could remain intact. On the Local people opinion, there is the possibility of such a substance in the Cave of the properties that can preserve human bodies. If only there were geological and chemical experts who would waste time investigating the place, presumably Sillanan cave enigma can be solved. In addition to anti-rotten corpses, there is also a human body that can walk on two legs, like a living person. If you want to find also the difference, there are a different, but not so obvious. Perhaps according to local people, the corpse walk stiffly and somewhat jerky. And the corpse could not walk alone, it must be accompanied by a live person who escorted him, until the final destination of their own homes. Why should it?
this is the story.
Toraja people used to roam the mountainous areas and steep ravines by walking. From ancient times till today remain so. They do not know the cart, wagon, cart or something like that. Well in the course of the heavy trips likely to fall ill and die is always could happen. In order not to be left in the an unknown area (Toraja people respect the spirit of every person who died) and also not to bother other people (will be very unlikely to carry the body continuously along the journey that took many days), then by one magic, perhaps a kind of hypnotism under the terms of today, the bodies are required to go home on foot and only stopped when he had put his body in his own house. And just imagine, the body knows the way, and know which house! Nevertheless there is still one taboo: walking dead should not be touched. Maybe if touched by the miracle that run it will immediately disappears. Who knows.
The last oddity that is not so amazing was "Ballo" (palm wine), which is not intoxicating if drink it, no matter how much you drank. Beside could heating the body, this palm wine, which is mixed with the bark decoction, also could add energy and prolong life. It may be true, since the age of the population there would average 80 to 100 years. Will the palm wine has the same effect if taken outside the Toraja? never been tried.
B. Ma' Randing (Toraja War Dance)
At a large funeral for a higher-caste person, a warrior dance called ma'randing is performed, to welcome the guests. The dancers' outfits are based on traditional warrior dress and weaponry. Basically, the ma'randing dance is a patriotic dance or war dance. The word ma'randing comes from the word randing meaning to glorify while dancing. This dance is held to demonstrate one's skill in handling military weapons, and to praise the courage and strength of the deceased during his lifetime. It is danced by several men, each carrying a large shield, a sword and various ornaments.
Each object worn by a dancer has its own meaning; the shield made of buffalo skin (bulalang) is a symbol of wealth because only the noble and rich people can afford their own buffaloes; the swords (doke, la'bo' bulange, la'bo' pinai, la'bo' todolo) indicate readiness for the oncoming fight and, as such, they symbolize bravery. The helmet consisting of buffalo horns (tanduk, meant to deflect blows) are symbols of masculinity and bravery.
This dance has four principal movements. In the first movement, the commander turns around to inspect his men and their weapons - this is a symbol of discipline. In the second movement, the arm holding the shield is stretched out and the shield moved back and forth and sideways - a symbol of alertness. Then the right foot is lifted slightly from the ground whilst the right heel is stuck into the ground - a symbol of perseverance. Finally the dancers move three steps backwards or one dancer moves to the left and the other to the right to watch the enemy's movements in various directions - also a symbol of alertness. During the dance, the dancers are yelling to encourage each other during the fight. Bystanders will join in and also start yelling. This yell (peongli) can often be heard in Toraja on various occasions.
This dance is performed at a funeral ceremony of a brave member of the local nobility. The dancers also accompany the deceased to his last resting place.
The original meaning of the dance was to keep hostilities away from the village and to protect young girls from being kidnapped by enemies from neighboring villages.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
No comments:
Post a Comment