funeral ritual in Toraja

is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful an individual, the more expensive his or her funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. In the present day, when tourism is the main income of the Torajans, funeral feasts have been held by non-noble rich families, mainly performed as tourist attractions. Volkman (1982) called this phenomenon a death funeral inflation. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large area of grass field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expression for grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults. The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses.In 1992, the most powerful Torajan, the former chief of Tana Toraja Regency, died, and his family asked US$125,000 of a Japanese TV company as a license fee to film the funeral. Cf. Yamashita (1994). Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.