FUNERAL CUSTOMS
While most of funeral ceremonies in Indonesia have followed the way
of modern religions, such as Islam, Christian, or Tao, some tribes
in Indonesia still practice traditional funerals. II'll give you
four examples.
1. JAVA
Among Javanese, funerals involve several activities called
selamatan (selamat in Bahasa means safe, wish, happy, good luck).
The first selamatan is held on the day a member of a family dies.
The next one is held on the third day, continues on the seventh
day, fortieth day, the hundredth day, and the greatest one will be
held on the thousandth day. The Javanese believe that on the
thousandth day, the spirit of the dead person is already at the
peace in the another world.
2. SULAWESI
The Torajan people in South Sulawesi (Celebes) believe that the
spirit of a dead person enters puya, place for the dead. Dead
people that go to puya must show his social status when he was
alive. So the funeral ceremony for a person who had a high position
in the community may look like a carnival. The dead person is
accepted as dead when a complete funeral has been held. Before
that, the corpse is considered to be a sick body, kept in a
traditional house called 'Tongkonan.' He is dressed and offered
food.
3. BALI
The Balinese of Trunyan put the dead body under a tree after a
mourning ceremony. It's not buried or burned, not even covered. The
amazing fact is, the body will rot, but DOES NOT smell. The place
where the dead is put is near a village in Lake Kintamani, the
largest lake in Bali Island.
4. FLORES
Manggarai people of Flores, in the southeast part of Indonesia,
(people there are Austroloid, not Mongoloid by race) believe that
the spirits of the dead, called poti, stay where they used to stay
when they were alive, especially near the bed. After some time, the
poti move to wells, big trees, or crossroads near the house. They
watch their grandchildren, but don't disturb the living people.
After five days, the poti will go to Mori Karaeng, the place for
the dead. Manggarai people believe that everything in Mori Karaeng
is opposite of that in the world of the living. People break dishes
and glasses on the fifth day so that the poti will have the dishes
and glasses in good condition at Mori Karaeng.
