Day of the Dead

Saw a new fruit today at the weekly market - the aptly named snake fruit.

...and some nice looking fish.

Later it was a walk thru the livestock area where hopeful sellers had their finest water buffalo out on display. 

The local Buffalo that is, the rest of Indonesia know the need for Buffalo is great here to support the funeral ceremonies so many are shipped in from Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra. They are seen as being somewhat lesser and are corralled separately.

Pigs are layer out in a cash n' carry manner on racks designed for motorcycle transport.

I showed my Tau Tau pic to some of the guides at the guest house this morning and they said right away "it's tau tau." They were astounded that I found it in Japan...and a little surprised that I "took it, even though I explained that it had appeared to have been discarded. One guide thought that the front panel may be original due to the detail of the carving but I now think it was just a souvenir. However none of the shops offered similar carvings. The wood, I think, is far too light and cheap to have been of real value.

Very cool to see the real deal at Lemo.

After the funeral the dead are borne to the grave site in a pallequin designed as a mini tongkonan house. It is used only once and then just left at the gravesite to decay. In this case the body is interred in a cave that has been carved out with hand tools. The wealthier the family, the bigger the cave. 

Then the tau tau (literally person person) effigies are placed at the cave, dressed and posed with out stretched hands. The eyes inlaid with Buffalo horn are quit startling. These Tau Tau act as vessels for the spirits of the deceased when they visit earth to thank their families for speeding their journey to heaven and offer them good fortune on earth.

Grave robbing has led to these effigies being kept away from public view, hence my concern over our little carving. The tau tau are close to life size and nowadays have a Madame Tussaud  life like quality.

Burials for babies and young children in the Ke'te Kesu area of Toraja are unique. My guide explained it thus; if a child dies before he or she develop teeth it is thought that they cannot speak or think or know right from wrong. Their spirit is trapped on earth with no way to make a bridge to heaven. To help rectify this a hollow is carved out of a designated tree to receive the body which is arranged in the fetal position and wrapped in cloth. A covering of plan fronds is woven and tied off on pegs as a door. The selected tree typically has a white milky sap symbolizing mother's milk and thus as the tree absorbs and encases the body it becomes the child's new mother and the baby is never alone even though trapped on the earthly plane of existence. 

The tree we visited was possibly a fig of Angkorian proportions, a good 200 years old but in a state of decay in one of the three main roots. Another 40 feet up the top had been lopped off by some natural force with a new trunk starting to grow making it very top heavy. The burials follow the class system with nobles at the top and the low class at the bottom. The last recorded grave here was around 30 years ago. 

The site is down some stairs from the road with some massive bamboo towering above creaking in the wind - amazing atmosphere.

The other method of burial is the "hanging caves" where the elaborately carved jackfruit wood coffin is hung or place on beams high up in side a cave or along a cliff face. Overtime decay sets in and bones of the family pile up. 

Offerings are left some seem as if with a sense of humour!

At our last stop the village beside the cliff side grave was overrun with police who were out in force in the area due to some regional visit from a two star general who runs the show. Still had nice sunset shots in spite of their motorcade. 

More on the police later...when I get to Sabah.