The traditions of funeral after death are different in every culture in the world, but there are some customs which surprise at first sight. There is also an area in Indonesia where children are buried not in the ground but inside a tree. It may sound scary, but for the local people it symbolizes the connection between nature and spirit.

Indonesia and its unique cultural traditions

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, but hundreds of tribes and cultures live here. The Toraja tribe of South Sulawesi province is known for its unique funeral traditions. These traditions are based more on local beliefs and beliefs related to nature than on religion, hence social context is necessary to understand them.

Tradition of burying children in a tree

In Toraja community, if a child dies before teething, he is not buried in the ground. The villagers make a hole in the trunk of a big tree and wrap the child’s body in a cloth and keep it in that hole. After this the place is closed with fiber made from palm tree. With time the tree grows and the hole fills itself.

What is the belief behind this?

Local people believe that the souls of such children are very pure. By burying in a tree, the wind and nature carry away that soul. According to their belief, through this process the child’s soul goes directly into the lap of nature. Therefore it is not considered death, but a return to a new form of life.

Is this tradition scary

This tradition may seem frightening to outsiders, because the pits made in the trees and the atmosphere there appear mysterious, but the local community follows it with respect and reverence. For them this is not grief, but the path to peace of the soul. This is the reason why they consider this tradition not terrible but sacred.

Different customs for adults

In the Toraja community, the funeral process is different for adults and youth. If an adult dies, the bodies of the ancestors are taken out of the grave first. They are dressed in new clothes and taken around the village. Only after this the newly deceased person is buried. This ritual is considered a symbol of maintaining the relationship between the dead and the living.

Tradition and tourism in modern times

Nowadays, this tradition has become a subject of curiosity for people all over the world. A large number of tourists come to Toraja region to witness these customs. However, the local administration and community take care that these traditions are performed with respect and not as a sensation.

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Every culture of the world bids farewell to death in its own way, but there are some traditions which give goosebumps as soon as you hear them. Somewhere dead bodies are buried, somewhere they are burnt, and somewhere the meaning of farewell is something else. There is a ritual of a tribe living in the dense forests of South America, in which after death the ashes are turned into soup. This tradition may seem scary, but their belief behind it is very deep.

A completely different way of looking at death

In the modern world, peace is desired after death, but for the Yanomami tribe, the path to peace is different. This tribe lives in the border areas of Venezuela and Brazil and even today is largely away from outside civilization. For them, death is not considered the end, but the beginning of the next journey of the soul. This thinking gives birth to their most shocking tradition.

Ash Soup and Last Farewell

In the Yanomami tribe, after the death of a person, the body is not immediately cremated. First it is kept covered with leaves and sticks in the forest. After about a month, when the body has changed naturally, then it is brought back. After this the dead body is burnt and the ashes that remain are carefully collected. This ash is mixed with water or soup and consumed by the entire family.

No fear, a sense of respect

This tradition seems horrifying to the outside world, but for the people of the tribe it is a symbol of respect. They believe that the soul of a dead person keeps wandering until his body becomes a part of his own people. For them, drinking the ashes is not a mourning, but a process of embracing the soul. They call it endocannibalism, that is, symbolically assimilating a dead person from one’s own community.

faith related to peace of soul

The Yanomami tribe believe that if the ashes of the deceased are accepted by the family, his soul can live in peace among the forest, the air, and the living. They believe that if this is not done, the spirit may get angry and may bring trouble to the entire community, hence this tradition is considered not just a ritual but a means of balancing life and death.

Modern view vs tribal thinking

Today’s modern thinking may consider this tradition strange or unacceptable, but for anthropologists it shows the depth of culture. This ritual of the Yanomami tribe shows how different the ways of understanding death can be around the world. While on one side there is fear, on the other side there is also a hidden feeling of belongingness and trust.

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