The Tau-tau and Ma'Badong (Dance of Death)

A. The Tau-tau

The word tau-tau means 'little person', or, also, 'like a person'. Spoken rapidly the words sound liketatau. $3C/span>The tau-tau is the image of the deceased, dressed in clothing, complete with accessories and jewellery. The effigy is more than a memorial statue as we know it, for it is thought to have a soul, the soul of the deceased.

A specialist (pande tau-tau) fashions the effigy out of nangka-wood. Certain individuals have won fame in the making of these dolls; the carving supplies them with supplementary income. Well-known pande are Teken in Kesu' and Pong Salapu in Sangalla'. Today, resemblance to the deceased is the specialist's goal. Nowadays, since some tau-taucraftsmen, Teken, or Olle, have had training in sculpture on Bali, increasing verisimilitude is being achieved but, it seems to me, at the cost of something of the fascination and mystery characteristic of early death dolls.

Manufacture of the tau-tau is accompanied by offerings. Tau-tau have the genitals of whichever sex which they represent. The dolls have movable limbs so that, for example, even the forearm and upperarm can be detached from each other. The head, too, can be removed. Old effigies found in the vicinity of ancient coffins, do not have movable limbs.

The tau-tau are clothed exactly like a Toraja of status - in an early phase of the ritual, in simple garments, but in grand apparel when he is carried to the slaughtering place of the kerbau.

Finally the tau-tau, approximately one and a half meters tall, are set up beside the rock grave. As they represent the deceased, offerings are made to them. This explains Protestant opposition to the inclusion of the dolls in the burial ceremony. At the funeral of Lai' Kalua' (end 1930's), however, a tau-tau was part of the procession in spite of the fact that, before she died, she had converted to Christianity. For the burial of a woman of prominent descent, which took place in Kesu' in 1975, a tau-tau was also created. The effigy prompted protests from several family members and from the deceased's church, the Protestant Gereja Toraja. In 1978, however, an effigy was carried in the cortege of a Christian funeral.

Function of the tau-tau

The tau-tau is fashioned before the second phase of a major mortuary ritual for the dead commences. During the manufacture of the doll, the woodcarver sleeps near (or even under) the house where the deceased lies on view. Actual work on the effigy also takes place in the vicinity of his house, possibly even on the floor of the rice barn opposite the tongkonan. When the image is completed it is placed beside the dead. Just like the deceased, thetau-tau receives food to eat (an offering, indeed, for giving food to the tau-tau is a ritual process). All this occurs before and during the second phase of the ritual, in other words for quite same time, as the time lapse between the first and the second phase of the ritual can be considerable. While the deceased is brought down to the floor of the rice barn to lie in state there, the tau-tau is also brought down and set in position before the barn. Before this the effigy stood in front of the tulak somba of the house. The doll then had on rather simple clothing, for a male tau-tau a pair of short white trousers (seppa tallu buku). The outfit remains unchanged when the tau-tau takes position in front of the rice barn. Only once the effigy together with the dead - and in the same manner - is carried in a palanquin to the slaughtering place of the buffaloes, does it acquire fancy dress. A headdress appropriate to the status of the deceased is set in place, expensive jewellery is hung round the doll's neck, and his body ornamented with sash and krisses. At the slaughtering place of the buffaloes, the tau-tau remains in the immediate vicinity of the corpse.
The tau-tau, stationed before the grave (or on top of it) keeps alive the memory of the ancestor 'of old'. Once every so many years, his clothing is changed, usually before burial of a new person of rank takes place. From a great height, one by one, the effigies are carried down where they are carefully dressed anew, later to be carried aloft again to their posts in front of the grave. "That it Puang X", people cry out as a doll is carried down from the cliffs. "And that is Puang Y". Older people often recall exactly who the effigies (in Suaya more than a dozen in all) represent.
That the effigy only plays a role shortly prior to the second phase of the mortuary ritual is probably a matter of the 'maturation' of the deceased. In the first phase of the death least, aluk pia, the 'child ritual', the deceased had not yet attained a state in which he can do anything for the rice and for his descendants. During the second stage of the death ritual, however, he already approaches that state. Then the tau-tau,the image of the deceased, the 'living dead', is stationed beside the corpse. In the course of the first phase of a death ritual for an extremely eminent personage, a temporary tau-tau is occasionally fashioned from a bamboo rod. Decked with clothes this effigy rather resembles a scarecrow. Such a temporary tau-tau is called bate lepong.

B. Ma'Badong (Death of Dance)

Ma'badong a ceremonial dance origin of Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. Ma'badong dance was held at the funeral ceremony conducted in groups. The dancers (pa'badong) form a circle and holding hands and generally they are dressed in black.
Dancers circle and linking to each other pinkie fingers. Dancers consist of male and female middle-aged or older. Pa'badong intoning poetry (Kadong Badong) curriculum vitae, from birth until death of the person who died. The dance is sometimes swallowed Ma'badong hours, even last up to three days and three nights-to-back in the parking place of mourning ceremonies.

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Kete' Kesu

Kete' Kesu is a district tombs of the blue blood's grave. It's located near the Rante Pao area. From Rante Pao you could ride 'pete-pete' or the local public transportation that only cost 3000 IDR. 

What will you find in Kete' Kesu?
Well it's not only about tombs and dead people, it also have traditional village with it's Tongkonan (it's the traditional house), and art market (really good for souvenir).

For the entry to Kete' Kesu, it only cost 5000 IDR. Very cheap! 
Entering the gate of Kete' Kesu, we were welcome by this big buffalo, tight in a bamboo. We took some pictures of it of course.Then we're heading to this pathway side to side with green padding field with buffaloes doing their mud bath.

At the end of the pathway, we could see soo many Tongkonans. Some of them are actually house, local people live there. Behind this traditional village, we went up to the hill entering the tombs zone...spooky! Toraja has culture to respect the spirit of dead people by making a house for them. There's also stairs up to the cliff. In that cliff there's holes to put coffins.Kete' Kesu is an interesting place, it's the heart of Toraja's culture.

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Walking Corpses in Toraja and Ma' Randing (Toraja War Dance)

A. Walking Corpses in Tana Toraja

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.

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The Uniqe of Burial in Toraja

The Toraja Tribe of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is known for the cheerful way of treating death, and its unique burial grounds carved in sheer rock.

There are plenty of tourist destinations area in Indonesia. One of them, and the most beautiful tourist destinations of Indonesia, the green hills of South Sulawesi are home to the Highland of Toraja, a tribe that still honors the old Austronesian lifestyle. Most people in Tana Toraja are Christians, converted during Dutch colonization, but traces of their old beliefs still remain and are most visible during funeral festivities and burial customs. The Toraja are obsessed with death, but not in a tragic sense; to them, funerals are a lot like going-away parties celebrated by sacrificing dozens of buffaloes and pigs for a feast enjoyed by the entire community.

The main concern of a Toraja tribe member is to make sure he raises enough money so the family can held a big funeral ceremony, when one of the family leaves this world. Their bodies are stored under the family home for years after their death. During this time the remaining relatives refer to that person not as “the deceased” but as “the sick”, and raise money for the actual funeral, which is usually attended by hundreds of guests. Tourists are welcome to attend the festivities, as long as they don’t wear black or red.

While churches dot the Toraja countryside, tribe members are rarely buried in the ground. They are either placed in tombs dug into nearby cliffs, or in wooden coffins hanging on the side of mountains. Lemo, one of the most popular burial sites in the area, looks like a big piece of rock Swiss cheese, with holes carved to fit coffins and balconies for the “tau tau” – life-size wooden effigies representing the deceased. In the old days, effigies only showed the deceased’s gender, but now master carvers try to make them look like the actual person. After the body has been placed in its rock tomb, the dead’s effigy is placed along others, in a carved balcony, so his spirit can watch over his descendants. Unfortunately, so many tau tau effigies have been stolen to be sold to tourists that people have started to keep them in their house.

At Ke’te’ kesu’, the dead are not placed in cliff-dug graves, but in wooden caskets hanging from the side of cliffs. The coffins are beautifully decorated with geometrical shapes, but over time the wood begins to rot and the bleached bones of the deceased often exposed. Some Toraja members are so resourceful that they pack the bones of several family members into a single coffin, which eventually causes the sustaining poles to break under the weight. But, judging by the piles of wood and bones at the bottom of the suspended burial ground, this doesn’t seem to bother anyone.

The smallest of the Toraja burial grounds are the “Baby Trees” where the tribe’s young are placed. If a child dies before he has started teething, its mother wraps his body in cloth, makes a another hole in the Baby Tree and places the dead infant inside. The hole is then sealed and as the tree begins to heal, the child is believed to be absorbed.

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Londa Cave, Stone cemetery Lemo and Kambira - Baby Graveyard

A. Londa Cave

Traveling to Tana Toraja is not complete if you haven’t visited Londa Cave because the burial area in the caves and cliffs is one of the unique tourist attraction  that is hard to find in any other place.

Londa is a natural cave used as a cemetery. The cave is located in the village Sa’dan Uai, Sanggalangi District, about 15 kilometers from thecenter of Makale.For Toraja people, Londa Cave is sacred. Even so, the cemetery which maintained by family foundation is open to anyone. Visitors are required to comply with certain traditional rules while in the place. One of ‘em is not allowed to move, let alone take, the skulls scattered in the corners of the cave (But seriously, would you?).

Around the door of the cave, it seemed tens, even hundreds, of an old coffins and skulls and bones of humans who had been buried in that place. Coffins are stuffed in the corners of the cliff some are even hanged.Some sculptures are also made for the buried bodies that resembles the corpse’s face. The sculptures are equipped with fashion, clothes and gloves, which are adjusted by gender of the corpse. The sculpture is called‘tau-tau’.The cemetery consists of three levels. The first level is located in the cave and the base of the cliff. The secondlevel is in the middle of the cliff and the third level on top of the steep cliff with a height of about 200 meters.

This level is adjusted to the social status of people who will be buried. One who is buried at the base of cliffs and caves are one with mediocre social status. The middle for the middle social status, while one was buried on top of the cliff is a group of nobles and kings.The sculpture or tau-tau was reserved only for nobles.

B.  Stone cemetery Lemo

Lemo Stone graves located in Toraja, South Sulawesi, is the second oldest cemetery in Toraja after Songgi Patalo.On the site that was built around the 16th century, there are approximately 75 and 40 grave statues of people who have died.
Each hole is a family cemetery. That location is one of the Toraja tourist attraction visited by many tourists, both foreign and local.Graves made ​​in the rock Lemo named because its shape resembles a round lime (citrus). When viewed from the outside, would only appear to the door that closed the hole with wooden planks.
The location of these holes is quite high, reaching tens of meters. Bodies inserted into or withdrawn with a rope ladder.

C. Kambira  - Baby Graveyard

Kambira is a village, south-east of Rantepao that is home to one of the biggest baby grave sites in Tana Toraja. I was told the baby grave site in Kambira houses up to 20 baby graves...in a tree.The Torajan's bury deceased babies in a tree, each village is generally home to a baby grave tree, which serves as the grave site for the babies from that particular village.I was curious what the Torajan's classified as a baby...apparently one that has not as yet grown teeth. In Kambira the babies are buried inside a very big, old tree in a bamboo forest in the village. It was cool and dark, the sun's rays shadowed by the huge bamboo.

This is a very old custom in Tana Toraja and still relates to the animism beliefs of the local people. The babies bodies are placed standing upright inside the tree - as local people believe that (or hope that) the babies will grow inside the tree.

They cut a hole into the tree to place the babies inside and then place a woven like door over the top of the hole to cover it. The doors are made of bark and twigs from a palm tree and have different numbers of wooden nails or pegs with rope woven around them. The number of wooden nails/pegs differs depending on the caste of the family. The ones that I saw, mostly had four wooden nails, meaning they were of average status within this particular village. One's that have six are of a higherstatus.
Apparently the holes in the tree, eventually close-up by themselves and then the little woven door is not needed anymore and eventually rots and falls off the tree...leaving the sealed-up hole visable...I could see where some holes had closed up. Because of this, it made it very difficult to actually count how many babies had been buried in this tree, as some holes had completely closed and it was difficult to distinguish them compared to natural lines and marks in the old tree.I felt sad thinking about all the babies buried inside that lone tree.

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To Make a Dead Man Walk

In times past, when the villages of Tana Toraja were still extremely isolated and difficult to visit, it is said that certain people had the power to make a dead man walk to his village in order to be present at his own funeral. In this way, relatives of the deceased were spared the necessity of having to carry his corpse. One particular area, Mamasa, also known as West Toraja, was particularly well-known for this practice. The people of this area are not strictly speaking of the same ethnic group as the people of Toraja. However, outsiders often refer to them as Toraja Mamasa. In many ways, the cultures of the two groups are similar, although they each have their own distingushing characteristics. In particular, the style of wood carving of the two groups is different.

According to the belief system of the people of Mamasa, the spirit of a dead person must return to his village of origin. It is essential that he meet with his relatives, so that they can guide him on his journey into the after-life after the ceremonies have been completed. In the past, people of this area were frightened to journey far, in case they died while they were away and were unable to return to their village. If someone died while on a journey, and unless he has a strong magic power, it would be necessary to procure the services of an expert, to guide the dead person back to the village.

This is not intended metaphorically-the dead person would be made to walk from wherever he had journeyed back home, no matter how far away that was. The corpse would walk stiffly, without any expression on his face, in the manner of a robot. If anyone addressed the dead man directly, he would fall down senseless, unable to continue his journey. Therefore, those accompanying the deceased on the macabre procession had to warn people they met on their path not to talk directly to the dead man. The attendants usually sought out quiet paths where the procession was less likely to meet with strangers. These days, the practice of walking the dead back to their place of origin has fallen out of currency.

Good roads now connect the villages of Tana Toraja, and people tend to rely on more conventional means of transportation for bringing bodies back home. The ability to bring the dead back to life has not been entirely forgotten, however. Sometimes, even now, the deceased is made to continue breathing and seems alive until all his relatives are gathered around him.More commonly, the skill is practiced on animals. At a funeral ceremony, when a buffalo has been sacrificed and its head separated from its body, the body is made to get up and walk for as long as ten minutes. A demonstration of this sort proves to the audience that the ability to bring the dead back to life has not entirely passed from the community.