Toraja's ancestral 'tau-tau' figures

By Stanislaus Sandarupa

TANA TORAJA, South Sulawesi (JP): The following is based upon fieldwork conducted in 1991 at Rembon, in the district of Saluputti, Tana Toraja, and focuses on the ritual art of making a tau-tau (effigy). In this case, a tau-tau of Ne'Bine, a woman who died in 1989 at the age of 80, and was given a rapasan (a funeral ceremony of the highest level) in 1991. A rapasan is based on the traditional Torajan religion of Aluk To Dolo.

The rites and wood of a tau-tau may vary from region to region and in accordance with the social status of the deceased. Some people are only permitted to have tau-tau lampa, a temporary tau- tau made of bamboo. Others may be able to afford a tau-tau made of kapok. People belonging to the upper class may have an effigy made of the wood of a nangka (jackfruit) tree.

Ne'Bine's tau-tau was carved from nangka wood, one of the highest quality woods reserved for a nobleman or noblewoman. The carver is called Ne' Sanda, 70, the only effigy maker for the villages of Kole and Ulu Sulu.

Tau-tau derives from the root tau (its cognate form is to) which means person. The reduplication form of tau-tau implies a negative, that is, not a real person. It is sometimes called bombo (spirit), or payo-payo (shadow).

Within the funeral ritual context, tau refers to to mate (dead person), while tau-tau refers to its representation, so the contrast is between to mate and tau-tau.

How are we to understand the relationship between the two within the cultural framework of Toraja people?

While many people have interpreted the tau-tau as a representation of a dead person, one must be careful because the interpretation seems to emphasize the aspect of death. Rather, a tau-tau is best understood as an ancestral figure, emphasizing the Torajan worldview of the principle of continuity of cycle life.

This principle is culturally played by massinggi tau-tau (eulogizing the tau-tau) and manggaraga tau-tau (the ritual of making a tau-tau), the structure of which bears an iconic relationship to each other, in this case the noble lady, Ne'Bine.

Singgi tau-tau (the effigy's eulogy text), which is narrated by the to minaa (the ritual specialist) after the tau-tau's completion, consists of the beginning of life in heaven, life in this world and life after death.

The purpose of making the tau-tau is to symbolically enact such a continuity of life through the mediation of the east- facing ritual and west-facing ritual, interchangeably performed within the funeral ritual.

One cannot fail to note that a number of rites performed in the funeral ritual are actually structured on the opposition between life and death (as it is exemplified in the opposition between ma karu dusan: to cause the dead person to die, and ma'tundan: to cause the dead person to wake up).

A eulogy's first section deals with the two phases of life: phase one being the heavenly origin of life, the mythical reality of pregnancy and childbirth in heaven, and phase two being the earthly life in this world.

The heavenly origin of life is acted out by the pande tau-tau (effigy maker) by carving the tau-tau's head and the body out of wood from a jackfruit tree. All rites that accompany this carving are classified as aluk rampe matallo (life ritual).

Artwork on the tau-tau begins after performing ma'tundan, (waking up the dead person), the rite of the second part of the upper class funeral ritual. Using a pencil and a sharp knife, the effigy maker begins to fashion the life-size effigy, detailing each part the body, from the dibala lindo (face), to the ma'lette and ma'lima (legs and arms).

After fashioning the head, the carver continues to carve in sequence the ma'sadang (mouth), ma'illong (nose), ma'mata (eyes), ma'talinga (ears), mangngasa isi (teeth), ma'baroko (neck), ma'barangkang (breast), ma'lassak (waist and genital organs), ma'lette (legs) and ma'lima (arms), each of which is preceded by the rite bai todi (sacrificing a pig), used as an offering to the deities and the ancestors.

When the carving is finished, the massabu rite is performed to mark the tau-tau's completion. This part is the symbolic enactment of the birth of the noble lady.

One pig is sacrificed as an offering to the deities and ancestors. This rite marks the beginning of a number of activities for the coming major ritual.

The eulogy further talks about the second phase of life, lino, which focuses on the growth of the noble lady from childhood to maturity, her agricultural activities and ritual achievements in this world. Within the ritual context of carving a tau-tau, such growth is symbolically enacted in ma'ku'ku, which is the rite of cutting the hair for the first time; ma'pake, which is the rite of giving attire to the effigy; and ma'pasa tau-tau, the rite of betrothal.

The rite of cutting the hair signifies nobility and marks the separation from the previous world. In this ritual, one pig is sacrificed and the meat is used as offerings to the deities and ancestors.

Following this, the tau-tau is given attire and accessories according to ma'pake (its sex). The tau-tau is dressed in traditional Toraja clothing, symbolizing maturity.

Over Ne'Bine's tau-tau's head was placed a folded sarong in that area's design; around her head was tied a sa'pi (an ornament made from beadwork and silver); the front part of her head was accessorized with strips of bamboo with curly ends called pangngarru, spangles of gold leaf called tida-tida, and bulu manuk (chicken feathers); a manik kata (necklace) beautifies her neck; and around her waist is tied the beadwork ambero. Over her shoulder is hung a small pouch containing sappa manik (betel nuts).

As soon as this work has been completed, the tau-tau is placed at the west side of a rice barn, facing the house in which the dead person is located.

In the following several days, the rites center on mebalun (wrapping bodily remains). Before the ceremony began, the body was left to decompose in a karopi (temporary boat-shaped coffin).

The eulogy goes on to mention that, as she becomes an adult she goes to the market and meets her partner there. Within the ritual, on the day the temporary coffin is buried, this event of meeting a spouse is enacted in the rite of ma' passa tau-tau.

It is a rite of betrothal, which is performed by carrying the tau-tau in a procession to the market on Rembon market day. As the procession arrives, the tau-tau is put down. People in the market bring offerings such as betel nuts and tobacco. A pig is sacrificed to mark the event.

The next day the marriage ceremony rite is performed. This rite commemorates the marriage ceremony of the dead person. Another pig is sacrificed.

Finally, the eulogy's second section talks about the most important rite, which marks the transition from earthly life to the heavenly one. This transition is enacted in the rite ma'tatau, the conversion rite of passage entering into the next phase of life. After being given some offerings and food the tau- tau is turned first to the east (symbol of life) and then to the west (symbol of death).

At this point, the tau-tau is in the next phase of a deceased's life (life after death).

The eulogy explains that the soul travels south and ascends to the sky, becoming a to membali puang (deified ancestor). When the funeral procession is made to the funeral site, the tau-tau goes with it. And when the dead person is interred in a stone grave, the tau-tau is also put there.

Traditionally, the tau-tau is placed on a balcony in front of the grave but because stealing effigies has increased in the past several decades, Ne'Bine's tau-tau is placed inside the grave.

After a long period of time, the ritual of conversion for the tau-tau is further reinforced by the rite of ma'balik bane. By performing this rite the family believes that the soul has turned into deified ancestor, which, according to some Torajans, is then manifested in the tau-tau.

The tau-tau then functions to represent the deceased's life cycle with the emphasis on the continuity of life after death, the pinnacle of life which can be achieved only through the mediation of the funeral ritual. For that very reason the tau-tau is best understood as the representation of ancestral life.

The tau-tau is respected and held sacred by Torajans. When a tau-tau has been placed on the balcony in front of the grave, it is strictly forbidden to touch it, except in the ma'nene' (ancestor-contacting) ceremony. In this ritual, the clothes of a tau-tau worn out by rain, sun and wind should be changed. When the family wants to give an offering to the dead, the offering is placed on the tau-tau's palm.