Written by Jasmine Rajah, Jonathan Lim & Lisa Marie Fernandes
Photos by Lam Hor Kay & Jonathan Lim
The grave tour in the three main gravesites (Lemo, Kambira and Ke’te Kesu) in Toraja gave us a glimpse of how funerals are carried out according to the Torajan traditions. The most intriguing thing about their death rituals is perhaps the graves themselves; the infrastructure of the grave, followed by the traditional beliefs that accompany it, is unlike any other grave sites that we normally see.
The external architecture
This article will focus on the baby grave in Kambira where interestingly, the bodies of the babies were buried in a live growing tree.
Signboard going into the the baby graves.
Similar to the stone graves in Lemo or Ke’te Kesu where the stone cliff is chiselled to make a 9-meter deep hole as a grave for the Torajan families and their descendants, the trees chosen as part of the baby graves are similarly cut and dug to make a hole for the babies’ bodies. The size of the hole (grave) depends on the size of the babies. While the stone graves are meant to house bodies of one family and their descendants, the baby graves only hold one baby per grave.
To cover the holes of the graves on the trees as well as protect the graves from ants or squirrels that could potentially harm the corpses, the graves are covered with fibres of the palm tree bark, which are tied together to form a small door-like structure.
Black-coloured tree fibers made to be ‘doors’ of the grave
The trees chosen as a gravesite are normally jackfruit trees. Torajan culture believes that babies who do not live long enough to grow their teeth are considered to have softer bones. Hence, jackfruit trees are chosen as appropriate grave sites due to the soft texture of its bark by nature. Other than that, jackfruit trees are also chosen as they are easier to cut and dig into graves.
The position of each grave on the tree is significant to Torajan culture, as the tree where the babies are buried in are considered to be the ‘new mother’ of the baby. Hence, the graves on the tree face the opposite direction of their family’s house. For example, if the house of the deceased baby’s family faces east of the tree, then the grave of the baby should face west, away from the direction of the house.
A closer look into the baby burials
The living pokok tara, or jackfruit tree, in which the babies are buried are considered a ‘home’ for babies from varying social classes that symbolizes a host of traditional beliefs.
According to old Torajan beliefs, if a baby died without teeth, it was considered a holy or pure baby. Unlike adults (where their bodies will be kept for months or even years before finally being buried), the child’s body is not preserved but is kept for only a few hours or a night before the burial ritual is conducted. The biological mother does the wrapping and preparation of the baby’s body for the burial. This marks the last involvement of the ibu sebernarnya or the biological mother as the burial tree is recognised as the baby’s new mother, with the tree sap symbolising a mother’s breast milk. This was told to us by our guide, Pak Arru.
Necessarily, while the real mother conducts the rituals, the father and grave makers prepare the burial site, by digging out the soft wood and collecting the fibres for the door. The grave’s interior and position is based on the baby’s size and social rank, respectively. A baby from an upper class family is positioned the highest on the tree bark; a middle class baby buried in the middle; and the bottom part of the tree is reserved for lower class babies. The child’s father and the rest of the family attend the burial ceremony, while the biological mother is not allowed to attend the burial as now the tree is considered as the babies’ new mother.
Culturally, the pokok tara is chosen because its soft wood is representative of a baby’s soft bones and doors of the burial plots are made from the bark of palm trees for protection against evil spirits – locally known as bombo. Inside, the baby is placed in an upright position that faces the opposite direction of the family home of the deceased baby. This is to ensure the child does not face its old mother, so that in the event the ibu sebenarnya bears another child, it will not die prematurely. If a baby dies at birth, the placenta must be buried in the ground around the tree, facing the East in hopes that the baby will ‘grow’ like the sun. Finally, the closing of the burial door symbolises the departure of the baby’s life into the hands of nature.
The practice of baby graves has now ceased to exist as Christianity slowly conquers the region of Tana Toraja. In fact, the last baby to be buried in Kambira was 50 years ago. Although the practice has ended, the villagers who memorialise and preserve these trees, and visiting tourists and scholars who wish to learn about this unique cultural artefact have kept the tradition alive.
Jasmine has a weird fear of being in a pool of strangers but feels incredibly comfortable being on stage performing for them. Reverse stage fright perhaps? She loves traveling and would love to have a career which involves just that!
Lisa is a “rojak” [mix] of Malaysian rice and Swiss bread but if you’d like to know the specific ingredients you’ll have to get to know her. She is an avid learner, curious about many things, often delving deep into philosophical thoughts and wondering what legacy she wants to leave behind…snapping back to reality only to realise that she needs to find a job first.
People say that the great affair is to move, but what makes the affair great is the people and the stories you come across. Jonathan is in the middle of a slow yet sure process of documenting the tales and trails of his travels across Asia through photography and writing. His work can be found here: www.sengchonglim.tumblr.com.
In Search of Makassar & Toraja '14 