These People Are Obsessed With The Dead ( Sulawesi - Indonesia )

in #travel6 years ago (edited)

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On a recent trip to Sulawesi- an island in the archipelago of Indonesia- I visited the creepiest place called Tana Toraja.
Up until as late as the 20th century the people of Tana Toraja in Sulawesi were still taking the heads of their enemies, untouched by the outside world.

The whole place seems to be obsessed with the dead, much like Varanasi in India, people come from all over to bury the dead here. They have an elaborate funeral ceremony which unfortunately includes slaughtering many, many, many animals. The more you can afford to slaughter, the wealthier you are/were .

The local Toraja people here believe that the dead can take material items with them to the afterlife so they buried people with lavish items. Thieves started plundering graves so they began hiding the dead in the rocks and caves and hanging them off cliffs.

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I cycled around on some days exploring and I swear you can find these graves almost everywhere, I climbed a small hill that seemed like no one had been there in decades, sure as hell, I found a grave there!

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Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls) sometimes they keep the bodies of the deceased in their homes for months before the funeral service.
They also carve "tau tau" (wooden dolls resembling the dead person) out of wood to watch over the graves . Creepy as F@#!

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To be honest, Im glad I got to see this place, but I didn't enjoy being there at all, I could often hear animals crying and I could smell the burnt hair and flesh as there are funeral ceremonies almost everyday, some days more than one. So I got the hell out of there!

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Nice article, thanks for sharing, Alicia!

They have an elaborate funeral ceremony which unfortunately includes slaughtering many, many, many animals. The more you can afford to slaughter, the wealthier you are/were.

That's just sick. Poor animals.

sometimes they keep the bodies of the deceased in their homes for months before the funeral service.

And now that's getting too morbid for my tastes. Ugh, what's wrong with these people? I guess it's just the life they know... they have probably be sticking to these traditions for a long, long time.

Sorry for the late response, the steemit police have been restricting the hell out of me hahah. Its true though, its just what they know, keeping in mind that they had been untouched by outside world until like yesterday.

I understand. I advise you to check out the regular initiative from @thedarkhorse. I believe you are good enough to apply for a SP delegation.

Well.. at least you've been there once @aliciasteyn 😉 as an Indonesian, I just read about it or watched the TV show. They even hold an annual shower of the dead. That's the unique culture of Tana Toraja.

But.. you like the coffee😉

Yes Im glad I got to see it, the world is such a diverse place and YES! they are very famous for their quality coffee :D

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Very interesting post @aliciasteyn, i am always fascinated by the different and unique ways that we see death as humans. It is the greatest mystery and it spawned so many death ceremonies. This one looks like one of the creepiest, you were really brave going there and taking these amazing photos:)

Im also really fascinated by it! I just love travelling in general because it opens your mind to so many things! we have come far as humans in such a short time. its fascinating

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