Toraja Funeral Ceremony

Torajanese held traditional ceremony called Rambu Solo. Rambu Solo is customary ritual death Tana Toraja society that aims to respect the spirit and the people who deliver death to the spirit, which is returned to the immortality with their ancestors in a health resort, called Puyo, which is located in the south where people live. The ceremony is often also called the completion ceremony of death.

Therefore, local people consider this very important ceremony, because perfection ceremony will determine the position of this spirit is the person who died, the soul reaches the level of the gods (to-membali puang), or become a patron deity (deata). In this context, the ritual signs Solo into a "duty". In the beliefs of Aluk, soul of someone who died must be delivered so that he can reach heaven (puyo). Rambu Solo is a delivery. If family did not carry Rambu Solo, soul of the deceased will be rumble. So with all the power efforts, a certain kinship will conduct this ceremony. If kinship do not have cost to implement them soon after death, they may collect money first. But before the ceremony was conducted, the dead must be considered only as a sick or weak men. Remains stored in the house, still given food and drink, even ask the dead to talk as always.

The funeral was determined by social status of the family who died, measured by the number of animals sacrificed. More and more high social status of people who died, the great ritual has to be held. The large ceremony was measured from number of animals slaughtered. A noble kinship will slaughter between 24 up to 100 buffalos. Middle status will slaughter eight buffalos and 50 pigs enough.

In addition, there are also various cultural atraction on view, among them: buffalo compete (mappasilaga tedong), buffalo-buffalo to be sacrificed will be fight before slice; and compete feet (sisemba).
Various activities are interesting views on ceremony of Rambu Solo are :

• Mapasilaga tedong (buffalo fight). Competed buffalo in Toraja has unique characteristics horns curved down or crusted striped called tedong bonga. This type of water buffalo (babalus bubalis: mud buffalo) is endemic species in Tana Toraja.
• Sisemba. People compete their foot or leg each other.
• Dances ritus of Rambu Solo, namely ma'badong, ma'dondi, ma'randing, ma'katia, ma'papanggan, and massailo. On ma'badong, guests were standing around while holding onto hands. Then they sing and dance together. Strain of their song describes the sadness.
• Instrumental music called pa'pompang, pa'dalidali and unnosong.
• Matinggoro tedong (slaughter the buffalo). How to slaughter the buffalo on this ceremony is unique, cut the neck with a single swing of chopper. Buffalo is first tethered on a stone called simbuang batu. Buffalo butcher (patinggoro tedong) swing the chopper in a moment.

At the peak of the event, ma'balun ritual is held, (enwrap the corpse), ma'roto (set of gold and silver thread ornaments on the chest), ma'parokko alang (to mow down the corpse to be buried), and ma'palao (bring the corpse to the funeral). When corpse is delivered, red cloth spread out cover the family.

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