Tana Toraja

The Toraja traditional belief system, Aluk To Dolo (the way of the ancestors), shaped every part of life, from building houses and planting rice to the long passage of the dead to Puya, the land of souls. Christianity arrived during the colonial period and is now the faith of most Torajans, with Muslim and Aluk To Dolo minorities, but many ancestral customs continue alongside church life. In 2008 the area was divided into Tana Toraja Regency, with its capital at Makale, and North Toraja Regency, centred on Rantepao. Indonesia placed the Tana Toraja Traditional Settlement on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List in 2009, covering ten sites including Ke'te Kesu', Londa, Lemo and Pallawa.

Funeral rites, known as rambu solo', are the most important ceremonies in Toraja life. Death is understood as a gradual journey, and families often hold the funeral weeks, months or even years after a person dies, giving relatives time to gather and to prepare. Until then the body is cared for at home and treated as a family member who is unwell. The ceremony brings together large numbers of relatives and guests; water buffalo and pigs are sacrificed according to the family's status, as the buffalo are believed to accompany the soul to Puya, and gifts of animals create obligations that are remembered between families. Burial follows in family graves cut into cliffs or in caves, and infants who died before their teeth grew were traditionally placed in hollows of living trees. In some areas, families also hold ma'nene, a ritual of cleaning and re-dressing the remains of ancestors.

Family is at the core of Toraja life, and the tongkonan is both a house and a symbol of shared ancestry: people trace their lineage to particular tongkonan, and major decisions and ceremonies revolve around them. Wealth is often measured in water buffalo, which play a central role in ceremonies, and a family may spend years preparing to honour a parent properly. Christianity is the majority religion, and Sunday services fill the many churches across the highlands, while Muslim communities and mosques are found in the main towns. Wood carving, weaving and coffee growing are important local livelihoods.