Culture - House of Origin

VisitToraja.com [Home][News][Tour][Culture][Facility][Shopping][Add URL]

Toraja Culture House of Origin

Tracing relationships There are two words for "house". Houses in general are called banua, while houses of origin are called tongkonan. The word tongkonan derives from tongkon, meaning "to sit". Tongkonan refers to the place where family members meet to discuss important affairs (marriage, inheritance), to arrange for the unkeep of the house, or to attend ceremonies. Any house where one's mother, father, grandparents, or other ancestors were born may be regarded as origin-house. Like many societies of western Indonesia, the Toraja trace descend bilaterally, through both father and mother. Instead of belonging to a single house, people, therefore, belong to several, though they may not necessarily live in any of them. It almost imposible to trace the outlines of any group of houses members, who only act together on rare accasions. This is also why it is possible to maintain membership in many houses. Only when a division of inheritance is imminent, or plans are a foot to rebuild a house or stage a ceremony, is membership activated. If a house is being rebuilt, its descendants are expected to maintain claims to membership by contributing to the costs; if they are very poor, even a tiny token offering will do. Some say a single grain of rice suffices, embedded in a join between posts and beams. Similiarly, one may maintain membership claims by bringing a sacrificial pig to a ceremony. Sometimes a person may by this means attempt to assert a false claim to tongkonan membership. If the pig is refused, this amounts to a rejection of the claim, which, if recognized, might lead to later claims upon tongkonan property as well. A tongkonan has its own stones grave(liang), and membership in the house gives one the right to burial there. The grave is spoken of in ritual poetry as "the house without smoke, (the) village where no fire is lit". Since people belong to so many houses, it follows that they also have a considerable range of choice when it comes to selecting a final resting place.		House and rank Not all houses are origin-houses, or quality for the title of tongkonan. In some part of Tana Toraja, relatively insignificant family origin-houses may be referred to as tongkonan, and it is said that "even the birds have their tongkonan," meaning that even those of low rank trace their ties through houses. But in area such as Saluputti, the term tongkonan is reserved exclusively for origin-houses of the nobility. Only the nobility were allowed to have carved and painted houses; most people lived in bamboo shacks. Traditionally, the houses of aristocratic chiefs were the visible embodiments of the noble's wealth, power and ritual superiority. Pople of lesser rank were prohibited from imitating them and special ornaments could be added to the house facade only when certain expensive rituals has been held. The celebrations of rituals was seen as an act of thanksgiving to the deities, and in itself drew supernatural benefits: fertility, prosperity, and general well-being. Since strict rules of social rank determined what rites one could hold, the ritual system served to enhance the prestige of ruling nobles and their houses. Building and rebuilding All over Tana Toraja one is likely to come across houses being built or rebuilt. The money for these new houses or restorations of existing houses often comes from successful migrant family members who have done well in distant cities. The Toraja do not renew their houses just becauses they are in need of physical repair, often a perfectly good house will be pulled down and rebuilt, re-using some of the same timbers. Rebuilding in itself confers prestige on a house. A house built in one generation and renewed in the next already begins to be viewed as an origin-house; with susequent rebuildings, its claim over other houses grows stronger. This process may coincide with the emergence of a person of particular energy and verbal skills, who becomes recognized as the spokesperson for the family. Such a person can persuade relatives to contribute to rebuilding a house in which the themselves will not be living, fo the sake of enhancing the family's prestige. All tongkonan have a pair of founders, a husband a wife. However, the original owners of the land may be often remembered and named as a founder. The famous tongkonan of Nonongan in the Kesu' district is regarded as having been founded by a woman, Manaek, because the house was built on her ancestral land. Since man most often go to live with their wives at marriage, a man often put his energies into rebuilding a house that belongs to his wife. But should they divorce, he is the one who must leave, though he may receive the rice barn as compensation.		House ceremonies Rituals traditionally accompany every stage of housebuilding, from the first felling of timber in the forent to the final placement of the bamboo roof tiles. Throughout the building process, carpenters have to be supplied with food, coffee and cigarettes by the home-owners - an expensive proposition. Sometimes money runs out for a while, and the house remains half-built while the owners seek more funds. The offerings made and the size of the final inaugural feast depend on social rank. At inugural ceremony, called mangrara banua (banua means "house," rara means "blood") the poorest people may offer chickens, while those of middle rank sacrifice pigs. The largest aristocratic ceremony lasts three days and is called ditallu rarai, " three kinds of blood." This refer to the ritual sacrifice of chickens, pigs and dogs. The house was magnificently decorated, resplendent with precious heirlooms hung from the facade: ikat textiles, ancestral swords, gold keris and ornamets, and beadwork ornaments or kandaure. The women of the house were also dressed in kandaure (whose patterns are identical to some house-carving motifs) s they greeted guests. On such occasions, event the most distant descendants of the house demonstrate their ties to the ancestral origin-site. New wealth, new styles When asked about the meanings of their house carvings, Toraja respond with a variety of explanations, sometimes the inspiration of the moment. Although very seldom does one hear an explanation relating to the carvings as an integral whole, a few general themes can be discerned. On the weight-bearing wall studs, the buffalo head (pa'tedong), is said by some to represent hope for wealth in the form of buffaloes, while others claim it represents the nobility who hold society together, just as wall studs huld the thinner in-fill planks which are grooved into them. A number of other Toraja house motifs also have a water theme: tadpoles, crabs, or water boatmen. Some design also represent ritually important species, including the banyan tree (pa'barana), cordyline shoots (pa'lolo tabang), or betel leaves (pa'daun bolu). The latter are always used in offerings, and they are typically found near the top of the house facade, beneath the design of cocks and sunbursts (pa'barre allo) at the top of the gable triangle. Still other design represent objects, such as the hilt of a keris (pa'pollo' gayang), or the lid of a basket in which house heirlooms are stored (pa'kapu' baka). The latter, an eightpointed design, as well as the cross-shaped pa' doti motif, both appear to have derived originally from Indian textiles. The facade of the most important aristocratic tongkonan often have a realistically carved buffalo head with real horns attached, called a kabongo'. A strange long-necked bird with a crest on the top of its head, called katik. This is sponsored the celebration of the great fertility-enhancing ma'bua' rite, highest of the "rites of the east". Together, the katik and kabongo' represent the totality of the Toraja ritual cycle.

Notes : This materials taken from severals resorces. The copyright still hold by third parties.

[Page 1][Page 2][Page 3][Page 4][Page 5]

Welcome to Toraja culture page. Enjoy it !!!

Copyright © 2000,2001 Palesan Inc. All rights reserved.

Last updated : July 05, 2001 10:13:14 PM