house and traditional ceremony in Toraja

Toraja ritual is divided equally between the rites of the east and those of the west, also know as rambu tuka’ and rambu solo’ translated as “smoke rising” and “smoke descending” ceremonies. The smoke rising ceremonies are associated with life, rising sun, birth, fertility, the deities of the north and the east, and with the renewal of life energies in the case of the house blessing ceremonies. Smoke descending ceremonies on the other hand deal with death, the setting sun, the west, and ancestors and spirits of the south.

The Toraja strive to accomplish a series of expensive, power-generating rituals that deal explicitly with the house. The ma’bua ceremony for instance is the last and highest ritual which can be performed for the house. This expensive ritual once conducted, future generations of the clan will continue to benefit from enhanced prosperity, fertility and well being, as well as from the prestige and status that such a ceremony affords in the eyes of other villagers. Not only does the ma’bua serve individual and clan-specific interest, it also serves as a way to strengthen social ties among villagers, as the completion o the ma’bua in one house is enough to bring good fortune to the entire village. Its mere organization, which may take monts of planning (not to mention the years the family may have spent accumulating necessary wealth), requires the help of the entire village as the dwelling must be refurbished and decorated, food must be prepared, and a variety of animist priests and officiating Toraja must be present.

Posted in: Indonesian Art