Culture: Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi - Land of The Heavenly Kings

The road from Makassar or Ujung Pandang to Toraja runs along the coast for about 130 km's and then hits the mountains at a distance after passing the market village of Mebali. They form a sharp contrast with the lovely green of the fertile, rain fed terraces and the rusty read of the tropical laterite soil. This is Tana Toraja, one of the most splendid areas in Indonesia.

Tana Toraja has a specific and unique funeral ceremony which is called Rambu Solo. In Tana Toraja, dead body is not buried, but it is put in Tongkonan for several time, even can be more than ten years until the family have enough money to held the ceremony. After ceremony, the dead body is brought to the cave or to the wall of the mountain. The skulls show us that the dead body is not buried but just put on stone or ground, or put in the hole The funeral festival season begins when the last nice has been harvested usually in late June or July and lasts through to September.

Source: www.My-Indonesia.info