Strange customs of 'living with the dead' in Indonesia

Most of us don't like to think or talk about death, but to the people of Toraja, in Sulawesi, Indonesia, the dead are a continuous part of everyday life . They left their loved ones at home for a long time before sending them off to the "afterlife".

Leave the body of a relative for 12 years

Mamak Lisa's family is gathered in the living room decorated with simple wood, not much furniture, a guest comes in and asks: "How's the situation?". Mamak Lisa turned her eyes to the corner of the room, where an old man lay on the bed covered with colorful sheets and sheets.

"He was still ill," Miss Mamak Lisa answered the guest and stood up, walking towards the old man, gently shaking his hand. "Daddy, there is a visitor to my father. I hope he doesn't feel uncomfortable or angry," said Mamak Lisa.

He was lying motionless on the bed named Paulo Cirinda."Why does grandpa always sleep?. = You wake up and eat , " said one child. "Order, you're sleeping," Miss Mamak Lisa glanced at the children.

In fact, Mr. Paulo Cirinda died more than 12 years ago but his family still thinks he is alive. Mamak Lisa said, she always felt a strong emotional connection with her father.

Relatives often visit or call to ask about her father's condition because he believes he can hear and still exist around here."Leaving my father's body in the house has made me less sad. We have time to prepare our psychological truth for this painful truth," Mamak Lisa said.

Most people think that it is impossible to keep the dead body in the house. However, with more than a million people in the Toraja region, in Sulawesi - eastern Indonesia, it has been a centuries-old tradition.

Mamak Lisa said that leaving her father's corpse in the house helped her feel less grief.

The people of Toraja believe that the soul is the link between this world and the afterlife, making the dead present in the world of the living.

A person's mourning can take place after the person dies a few months or even a few years. In the process of waiting for funerals, families keep dead bodies in their homes and take care of when they are sick. The dead are served food, drinks, even cigarettes twice a day, bathed and changed regularly.

In the area of ​​the deceased, the light is always on. Families worry that if they don't take care of the corpses properly, the souls of their loved ones will cause people to live in trouble.

To preserve corpses, Toraja residents often use special leaves and herbs to bathe the dead body. However, today, special herbs are replaced with chemicals called formalin .

Luxury funerals

Throughout life, people Torajans work hard to accumulate money. Instead of using savings to serve the present life, the people here are very "strong" for funerals. They consider it "economical for a glorious departure". When the family saves enough money, they invite all friends and relatives to attend the funeral.

The funeral of a man named Denge recently held is considered to be the top luxury in Torajan. The funeral lasts for four days with 24 buffaloes and hundreds of pigs being sacrificed. Estimated, funeral costs are over $ 50,000.

The corpses of Mr. Cirinda will stay at home until family members are ready to say goodbye and accumulate enough money. A lavish funeral with a large-scale parade around the village will take place.

According to the Torajan beliefs, the funeral is an extremely important ceremony , where the soul leaves the earth and begins its journey to the afterlife of Pooya - where the soul is reborn.

The people of Torajans rarely buried corpses in the ground. Instead, they put coffins inside or outside the caves. Friends and family often carry "necessities" for the dead, usually money and cigarettes.

Even after burial is done, the relationship between the dead and the living continues through the "ma'nene" ritual (roughly translated: cleaning the dead body). Every two years, families organize reunion with the dead by cleaning, dressing the dead and taking pictures with the family.