Friday, August 12, 2005
Toraja - The Land Of The Eternal Soul
Toraja means "Land Of Kings" but I would prefer as the Land Of Eternal Souls, since they have beliefs the souls of the accentor still there before they go to heavens.
In Toraja specially Rantepao where the Rock-cliffs have "eyes", near of the Top of Toraja Highest Mountain there is a palaces called Lokomata or "The Eye Of The Rocks", here everywhere are square eyes in kinds of large holes dug in the giant rock-cliffs.
Inside these "eyes" buried the Torajans in ethnical painted wooden flaps.
Kinds of tall rocks with their sharp peak pointing skywards, reminded me the Cleopatra's Needle/obelisk which fast the same one could be find in Karnak Temple Of Egypt. The erecting method both toraja and Egypt are same,
Some Indonesian antropolog have writes that the Bataks in North Sumatra and the Torajas are come from the same stamm/familly-cousins.
And it can be easy to note same similarity of both cultures.
1..In Toraja they have a kinds of Wooden Puppets that the Bataks [in Samosir Island of Toba Lakes] called as Si Gale Gale.
2..The typically stone ages cultures obviously are the same Bataks, Nias and Toraja; all of them have kinds of same Obelisk.
3..The monotone music, and also similarity tones are belongs to this mystery too.
4..The art Texture design of their textile, also wooden carved texture; what still interesting probably the way they mixed the color from nature minerals.
5..The Toraja Roof tops Boat design are the same ones with the Bataks and make notice it seems like a kinds of Papyrus Boat.
Egyptian Craft had a low, curved prow and a high stern. The End of both prow and stern curled into the forms of a papyrus flowers. Egyptian boats have also a mast as long as the vessels it self, with cross at the top, and located in the center of vessels. So the difference between Egyptian boat and Toraja/bataks House is only that the long mast that used to carry Sails was transformed into a long pillar, which used as parts of Toraja House foundation. Also just thinks to imagine the boat from opposite side :-).
Since I have believed "Thoughts Are Free And Subject To No Rules" so it was a little mystery inside,I would just mouth telling some interesting things.
In Toraja there is a village called Kairo; there is some skeleton with exceptionally long limbs and huge skulls compared to the present population founded in some Rocks-graved.
It was the Puzzle of people/culture migration, the bataks/torajas probably have.
And most important is the Bulls Horn on front of their House Pyramid shaped wall.
They also have beliefs/believe that The Bull-horns symbolized the COURAGE and BRAVERY; or The more bull horns the Pillars bears, the richer and braver the owner of the house is.
Please take also note in ancient Egypt; the people worship the Sun God, RA and his gentle and much beloved wife Hathor who had the head of a cow.
The Torajans have believe that God has bestowed on them a special breed of bulls called tedong which is meant only for funeral rites.The tedong have white skin with black spots or stripes, tedongs belongs to albino class which product accidently by nature; and it used only for special occasion in Torajana ceremony.
Probably the Egyptian have left the superior Traits on Bataks/Torajans gene, since in Indonesia both people are mastering in Law/Debating/Math's, it was kind of nature talented people from times of Hammurabi; It could be very interesting if The Dawkins Memes postulate could be tested on these Folksgroups; if you are not really understand memes please asked any Indonesia who is Memes:-).
About that I've read before in Traxx German books, it was a series expeditions book about the missing-links anthropology and cultures X-files from all over the worlds. I don't really sure if the TV series in Arte-TV or ProSieben still broadcasting it.To my surprise it was not coincidental cases also if you have time to collecting the similarity with South Americans Baumaster works. In Toraja i.e. Celebes Island there are also kind of Manhir/Stone Tombs or Half-Man-with-Hut Stone crave which also pointed to the eastern, and it found also in some Island in Polynesia until South American Continents.
Happy Weekends
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