EDITOR'S PICK - It’s a costly and elaborate funeral rite for the Toraja people

Published on 7 Mar 2016 3:09:05 PM

t can be a costly and time-consuming affair to prepare the funeral rites for the Toraja people in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
There are over a million Toraja people worldwide, half of whom live in Indonesia.
Despite practicing different religions, the ethnic group’s funeral rites involve intricate details.
An interview with a village head in one of the villages here revealed that it can take some three months for the villagers to prepare a funeral, with less time needed to prepare the rites of those from a lower class compared to a higher one.
Funerals here can be costly, with up to 1,000 guests attending a funeral at times.
It takes several months or years for a family to gather enough money to organise a funeral while a house is also built especially for the occasion.