Toraja

Has been famous about its tourism attractions, Toraja is actually an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi. The culture and rituals of this ethnic has grab world attention that make more and more people come to Tana Toraja nowadays. Tana Toraja offers an exotic adventure that performs the richness of its culture at off the beaten track. The uniqueness of this area is indeed so strong. There are so many authentic cultures and rituals of Toraja that your clients can see.

Tongkonan house is one of the most “must see” things in Toraja. The traditional Torajan ancestral houses which are stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof and colored with red, blue and yellow painting. Some of these houses still beautifully decorated by buffalo horns in front the house. These ancient houses still well preserved by the local as they still use it for daily activities.

The funeral tradition in Toraja has been so much consuming tourist attention. Not only the burial ways but also the funeral ceremony is also so unique. In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults. At this ceremony, there is a ritual of slaughtering water buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. This ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death. During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. For the burial, Torajans has three methods of burial. First is the coffin  be laid in a cave, the second is in a carved stone grave and the third is hung on a cliff. These buried sites are also become a must visit for the tourist. What a dramatic ceremony!

Menhir stones as you ever seen at Asterix comic book can also be seen at Bori Kalimbuang Village. This Megalithic site has been so famous since more than a hundred stones (in many shapes) already found. Visit and feel the ancient atmosphere once you visit this area!

Toraja traditional ikat weaving is the main commodity that being livelihood for its people. The unique motifs in ikats generally represent ancestors or water buffaloes, but tend to be so abstract that the figurative can hardly be recognized. This dramatic design and the complexity of making this weaving make Ikat weaving quite expensive yet so beautiful. Nowadays, Ikat weaving has been used by world fashion designer as well as general people in so many forms of cloths.

As famous as its culture, Toraja Coffee is known as one of the tastiest coffee in Indonesia. To have a coffee journey, the tourist can visit Batutumong. This highland area offers beautiful landscape of 1.355 meters above sea level. Take time to have a light trekking in the country side through the paddy field and coffee plantations on foot will be a good option.  En-route people will also can enjoy and witness the old traditional houses and local people daily activities.