Ma'nene Ritual: Change Clothes of the Dead, Toraja, indonesia

Not always identical mummies with cloth wrapped around the corpse. In Indonesia, mummies are dressed in clothing as human beings live.

When hearing the word mummy, the country that is in our minds is Egypt. But did the traveler know that our beloved country of Indonesia has a tradition of changing mummy clothes, alias change the clothes of people who have died?

There is a tradition of Ma'nene conducted by Toraja society. This tradition is to replace the ancestor's body clothes and clean the body. Society will remove corpses from the crates, and clean the ancestral corpses that have been hundreds of years old. And the corpse dressed in new clothes.

Ma'nene tradition is done by the people of Baruppu, in the land of Toraja, South Sulawesi. This ritual is done after a big harvest in August. This tradition is usually done three times a year.

It is said that according to the story of this tradition originated from a hunter named Pong Rumasek who hunted into the forest in the mountains Balla. While searching for the forest, Pong found a dead body with a pitiful condition. Then Pong took off his clothes and put his clothes on the body. And buried in a safe place.

Since then, Pong has had tremendous fortunes. The harvest is abundant, and the results are many. In fact he also met the soul of the corpse buried, then the spirits helped him hunt and show the way.

Since then Pong has come to the conclusion that the bodies of the dead must also be respected. However the condition and form of the dead fist, it must still be cleaned and treated, treated appropriately. Pong also delivered what he experienced to residents Barrupu. Residents believe and do what Pong said, until now.

Ma'nene process begins by visiting the location where the ancestors in the cemetery Patane. The ancestors' bodies were stored in preserved crates. Before the corpse was removed from the crate, the elders of Toraja known as Ne'Tomina Lumba recited a prayer in ancient Toraja.

Then the ancestral body was lifted from the crate, and cleaned carefully. The body is cleansed by the offspring of the body with a clean brush or cloth, from head to toe. After that the body was put on new clothes, and laid back into the crate.

During the process of cleaning the ancestors, some of the men will form a circle and sing songs and dances that symbolize sorrow. They do this to entertain the families left by the bodies.

Why should this ritual be done after harvest? The community believes that Ma'nene rituals performed before the harvest will strike them. The harvest will fail, the fields will be filled with mice, and the leaves of the plants will be eaten by caterpillars.
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