Video: It is not necessary to bury: in Sulawesi, the living and the dead are always together
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The loss of loved ones is always a tragedy. But different peoples cope with their experiences in their own way. So, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia from time immemorial there has been a tradition that shocks us, and helps local residents to survive the pain of loss and not part with a loved one after his death. To do this, in Sulawesi, the body of the deceased is left unburied for several months or even years, after that they are accompanied with honors on the last journey, and then, with enviable regularity, they take the body out of the crypt in order to meet again with those who are dear.
In Sulawesi, they are sure that after the death of a person it is not necessary to immediately bury him. He can stay in the house where he lived for as long as his loved ones see fit. At the same time, the deceased is treated as if it were alive. It is believed that he is asleep or sick, but hears and feels everything. They try to surround him with attention, not to leave alone, not to turn off the light in his room. They take care of the body - they change clothes, wash them from time to time, even leave food, water and cigarettes for the deceased.
When the family finally decides that they are ready to bury the body (more precisely, to place it in the crypt), preparations for the funeral begin. The ritual necessarily includes songs, dances and the sacrifice of buffaloes. In Sulawesi, they believe that buffaloes help the soul of the deceased to cross to the afterlife, so they slaughter many animals, cook them at the stake and treat everyone who came to lead a dead person on his last journey.
Burial also takes place in an unusual way: the body is not buried in the ground, but placed in a kind of crypts - natural caves, of which there are many in the mountains. Relatives know that parting is not for long, soon they will again take out the body of a deceased person in order to remember it and be with him again and again. This custom is called manene. Every two or three years, the family comes to the deceased, takes him out of the crypt, makes a family portrait as a keepsake, communicates and - puts it in its original place. Both adults and children are involved in all this. For them, their deceased relatives are eternally sleeping, but by no means scary.
Homemade dolls carved out of wood must be placed next to the crypts. These figures are "copies" of the deceased, they are often dressed up in similar clothes, sometimes they even make a wig from the hair of the deceased. Such dolls are called tau-tau, in fact, this is an analogue of photographs that we usually place on the monument. These dolls are very expensive, about $ 1000, but the locals do not spare the money. It should be noted that the funeral is also expensive, it is almost the most expensive event in the life of every resident of Sulawesi.
The custom of burying the dead in multi-tiered crypts also exists in Guatemala. True, the payment for the maintenance of the graves is quite high here, and not everyone can afford to pay for the "rest" of their relative. Reburials (or simply the disposal of the remains of bodies for which they did not pay) are engaged here people with the most terrible profession - grave cleaners.
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