The Toraja are a mountain tribe in Indonesia who still believe in animistic funeral rites and keep their dead “alive” in their homes until the rituals are completed.
💡WARNING: This gallery contains gory images of human remains and animal slaughter.
A welcome ceremony for a buffalo sacrifice as part of a Tana Toraja funeral ritual. Photo by Aisha Sitara.
While most people around the world bury or cremate their dead immediately after death, the Toraja keep their dead in coffins at home until they can sacrifice a buffalo, so families save up their entire lives to buy a buffalo worth millions of rupiah, which can take years, during which the dead are cared for like a sick person, provided with food, water and regular conversation.
A wife sits beside the coffin of her late husband in a bedroom in Tana Toraja. He has been dead for 10 months, but the wife continues to live with him because she has yet to sacrifice a buffalo in his memory. Photo: Aisha Sitara.
Although many Torajans converted to Christianity under Dutch rule, funeral rites, including communal feasts, dancing, animal sacrifices, bullfights and cockfights, are still performed in their ancestral ways.
Buffalo sacrifice in Tana Toraja. The Toraja funeral ritual of Lambu Solo requires the slaughter of a buffalo. Photo: Aisha Sitara.
After the ritual, the dead are buried in the family ossuary, which can be ancient structures such as caves or rocks, or modern concrete structures. Because they believe in an afterlife, the body is buried with their material possessions, especially those that were favored in this life.
Families attend the funeral of a relative who died in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.
In many parts of the world, death often symbolizes a sad separation from loved ones and funerals are solemn occasions, but in Toraja, death is respected not only in everyday life but also in the physical landscape.
Boys in Tana Toraja wearing traditional Toraja fabrics and costumes. Photo by Aisha Sitara.
The sacrificed animal is shared among hundreds of attendees and the various funeral ceremonies help the local economy. The Torajans believe that the more people there are at a funeral, the more respect and veneration the dead show, and tourists are warmly welcomed into these personal events.
A funeral procession of family and relatives in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.
Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow.
A woman harvests rice in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Women wearing straw hats attend a Tana Toraja funeral, which takes place every year during the dry season, from July to September. Photo by Aisha Sitara.A Toraja woman takes part in an animal sacrifice as part of a Tana Toraja funeral ritual. Photo by Aisha Sitara.A musician plays the traditional bamboo flute “saluang” during a funeral in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Buffalo market in Pasar Boru, Tana Toraja. Buffaloes are expensive, so families often save their whole lives to buy one, only to slaughter it at a funeral. Photo by Aisha Sitara.The Toraja believe that the soul of the dead can enter the puya, or afterlife, only if a buffalo is slaughtered at the funeral. Photo by Aisha Sitara.In Tana Toraja, multiple buffaloes may be sacrificed to honor the dead, depending on the social class of the deceased. Photo by Aisha Sitara.An albino buffalo sacrificed in Tana Toraja. Big-horned and albino buffaloes generally fetch higher prices at Pasar Boru, the buffalo market. Photo by Aisha Sitara.A slaughtered buffalo is dragged away for butchering in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Skinning a buffalo before slaughtering it for a funeral feast in Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.None of the meat is wasted, and the remains of the raw meat are shared among the relatives who attended the funeral, who then take it back to their villages around Tana Toraja. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Pig sacrifice in Tana Toraja. In addition to buffalo, pigs are also sacrificed. Photo by Aisha Sitara.In Tana Toraja, the sacrificial meat is mixed with local herbs and roasted over an improvised fire among bamboo poles. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Mourners and relatives taste the meat of a sacrifice during a Tana Toraja funeral. Photo by Aisha Sitara.The feast at a Torjan funeral is accompanied by a local alcoholic drink made from the palm tree called tuak. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Everyone gathered for the funeral in Tana Toraja eats tuak freely, not just the mourners but also the butchers, drivers, helpers, cooks, volunteers, guides, and tourists. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Buffalo hides are skinned in Tana Toraja and later processed into leather. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Two young girls inspect animal hides as they dry in Tana Toraja. Photo: Aisha Sitara.Two boys carry the horns of a sacrificed buffalo in Tana Toraja before they are washed and dried. Photo by Aisha Sitara.Buffalo horns are used to decorate the exteriors of Tana Toraja houses, called tongkanang. Photo by Aisha Sitara.
Aisha Sitara is a documentary photographer based in Hong Kong. She has published her work in numerous publications including Gestalten, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Hindu, Harper’s Collins, Asia Times, Morning Star University of South Carolina and Wall to Wall Media UK (Documentary). She received an Honorable Mention at the 19th Pollux Awards and her photographs have been exhibited at Foto Nostrum Gallery in Barcelona. She is a member of the Cathay Camera Club of Hong Kong and won first place in the club’s annual exhibition for 2022.
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