Sulawesi is that when someone dies, their body is reserved and it can often their body is reserved and it can ofte n ta ke their body is reserved and it can often take months, sometimes years, when the funeral takes place. From the start, this programme contains images of corpses which some viewers may find disturbing. Its the great unspoken. A taboo. Something that ive had to face up to recently myself. Most of us dont know how to think or talk about death. But there are some people who do think they know. On the indonesian island of sulawesi, centuries old customs make the dead a constant part of day to day life. I have come here to learn more about these remarkable practices, which blur the line between this world and the next. A Morbid Obsession . Or a healthier way to deal with the grief of losing a loved one . Tana toraja in indonesia is an extraordinary place. Here, Ancient Animist Beliefs intertwine with new religions, resulting in unique rituals. At this traditional torajan funeral, Friends And Family gather to celebrate the life of a wealthy local man called dengan, who died over two years ago. But here is the strange thing. As far as his family and everybody else here are concerned, dengan is still alive. Torajans have a strong desire to stay connected to their dead loved ones. In spirit and in body. To see what this means in practice, i went to visit a torajan family. Hello. Nice to meet you. This is dandoru. He is 86 and his family take care of him. Dandoru died more than two years ago. Here, it takes months and sometimes years, until a funeral actually takes place. In the meantime, families keep the deceased in the house and care for them on a daily basis. They treat them as if they were sick. Torajans traditionally rub special leaves and herbs over a body to preserve it. Nowadays, a chemical called formalin is often injected into the body to embalm it. There is a powerful odour of musk and the chemical. When my father died, we buried him in two days. It was all very sudden, it was all very bam, bam. And to be honest with you, a few years on, i still feel i havent adjusted. It was just too sudden. I am still in a bit of a shock. Does this help you . Whats really incredible, none of these kids seem to be fazed by the fact that there is a dead person lying here. Everybody is so calm. He will remain here until his family have saved enough money for a lavish funeral. During their lives, torajans work hard to accumulate wealth. But rather than saving for a luxurious life, they save for a grand departure from this earth. The wealthier they are, the larger and more elaborate the funerals. Some last for days. Dengan was a rich man. And his funeral lasted seven days. Animal sacrifice is a fundamental part of this tradition. Buffaloes are a very important element to the torajan funerals, because they are believed to be the carriers of the deceaseds soul into the afterlife. The meat is eaten at the funeral feast, and the buffalo horns create create homes and tombs of the deceased. A symbol of wealth and status. The sacrifice, its one part of helping your soul to reincarnation. By the way of ancestor, everybody will be going to reincarnation. But not everyone gets the same way, gets the same time, gets a short way or long way. It depend of your character, depend of your personal life. Of course. 50,000 was spent on dengans funeral. Roughly ten times more than the average annual income here. They sacrificed 2a buffaloes, more than a0 pigs, as well as feeding and accommodating hundreds of guests. Even at this point, dengans funeral is not complete. Only when his coffin is carried to the top of this special platform, is he finally considered dead. According to Ancient Animist Beliefs here, this is the point where the soul finally ascends to the cosmos. From there, it watches over living relatives, bringing them good fortune, as long as the families take proper care of their dead. For centuries, the torajans have been laying their dead to rest in caves like this. Yet another place where the afterlife connects with this one. This cave winds for two kilometres. And its pretty full. Even here, friends and families bring necessities for their dead relatives. In a Tradition Predating photography, statues of dead noblemen and women are carefully carved out of wood. Most people here are farmers, and their average income is around 5,000 a year. Its clear that for torajans, the process of dying and being reincarnated is far smoother if you are rich. These sculptures are dressed in the clothes, jewellery and even the hair of the deceased. Silent sentinels looking out over this one from another. Here, the physical relationship between the dead and the living continues long after death. Even after burials. People are coming out of the church now, and they are all Shaking Hands in their traditional manner. They do this and then they touch their chest. And theyre getting ready for a less usual ceremony. The village leader explains that the ritual is called manene, also known as the cleansing of the corpses. Once every couple of years, families bring the coffins of long departed relatives out of their graves and open them up for a big family reunion. These are the close relatives of a woman called maria, and they are here for the cleansing. One of the guests is a torajan professor of sociology. The family will bring maria out of this tomb for the first time today. Chanting. Theyre bringing maria out now. Were just waiting for them to open her coffin. Im feeling a bit nervous, to be honest. I had to come out to get some distance from it. There really was no escaping death. I watched as they slaughtered pigs. And the final sacrifice. A buffalo. The coffin is finally opened. Once again, that strong odour of musk and formalin filled the air. Thank you. They want me to show what she looked like before and what she looks like now. She died three years ago and got buried two years ago. They kept in the house for one year. Maria is covered in her most treasured possessions. Relatives touch her as a greeting. Im going to try to touch her hair, just as everybody else does, as a sign of respect. She feels. She feels very hard. The hairfeels like normal. Still very soft. I couldnt help but wonder how children feel seeing their mother this. Her eldest son seemed very calm. I dont see any more sign of grief. Its just normal. Its just the body is here and its normal. When you couldnt see the body, when it was inside the coffin, even i was shaking. I was a lot more nervous. And everybody seemed more upset. Well, the relatives. But now everybody is content. Another guest particularly close to maria is esther, her daughter in law. How do you think this helps you deal with the grief . But for me, i want to remember my relatives, my dad, i want to remember him when he was alive. Im worried that if i see him dead, i will his identity will change in my mind. Many of these practices are slowly disappearing. The majority of horizons converted from the old animist religion to christianity after dutch missionaries arrived less than a century ago. But here, the two can and do coexist. Theyre wrapping maria in this white sheet. This is a symbol of changing her clothes. In some villages they literally change the outfit into a new fashionable one. But here, because they are christians, they dont want to mess around too much with the corpse. All this is so different to how ive dealt with my fathers death. Or so i thought. What did you do to your father . We buried him. Buried him, yeah. And then until now . I visit his grave sometimes. You visit his grave sometimes. You did it in a different way. How . Yeah. So perhaps the principles behind rituals here are not very different from most other cultures. Remembering our dead is something most of us try to do. Torajans dont leave that to chance. And for them, there certainly appears to be great comfort from their unique rituals around death. It looks like the week ahead is going to bring a resurgence of cold, wintry weather. Winter was not that long ago but in the short term, the rest of the weekend, no sign of any cold weather. There will be Sunshine Around but the morning will be little on the nip is side. It is settled right now because we have an area of High Pressure above us. Sunday starts off on the calm note, Sunshine Around, maybe pockets of frosted view up very early. The weather is not looking bad in southern areas. The London Marathon will be a fresh run. The changes are already starting to take place in the afternoon on sunday across northern parts of the uk and scotland. This area of low pressure will be responsible for opening the doors to a stream of colder air coming in from the northern climes. Already, earlier monday, we will see this weather front, a already, earlier monday, we will see this weatherfront, a cold already, earlier monday, we will see this weather front, a cold front, whiter complemented complicated major religious or mess, a stream of cold airfrom major religious or mess, a stream of cold air from the north and wintry showers. To fall across the hills of scotland. Through the course of monday and did tuesday, the cold front will sweep into the continent and then we start to see the northerly setting in the true, cold, northerly setting in the true, cold, northerly wind. This time of the year, the sun is incredibly powerful serve that means the temperatures arent really going to dip that below. We are not expecting subzero values but it will deal cold in the wind by the temperatures will be low for this time of the year. 6 degrees in scotland and barely into double figures in southern areas. Big storm clouds building, some bring in hail almost anywhere in the uk and they will be snow around as well, mostly across the hills and there is a possible idiot is most maddening. 0vernight, we will see some frost forming as well. Two or three days of the chill on the way. Wednesday will be the last day when we see those wintry showers with hail, maybe with funder, but also plenty of Sunshine Around. Those temperatures to into single figures across many areas, just about touching double figures in the south. By wednesday, look how far south. By wednesday, look how far south as colder airstream will have reached. We are talking about the north coast of spain. This isjuliet that originated in the arctic. By thursday, the change will happen. Well thursday, the change will happen. We ll start thursday, the change will happen. Well start to see Weather Fronts lining up in the atlantic here and moving from the west. This here is much milder air so essentially, the colder airstream from the north will be cut off and we will start to see whether systems coming in from the west. Thursday onwards, the colder airstream should be abating and will start to see the milder air coming injune start to see the milder air coming in june cause of start to see the milder air coming injune cause of friday and the weekend and eventually, the temperatures will climb to normal. Beyond next weekend, it looks like things could turn was all more and settled. But in the short term, a little dose of winter across Northern Hills especially and then the frost risk, we have to wrap up warm. That is it. This is bbc news. The headlines at 10pm 0n the campaign trail. Labour and the conservatives spar over the possibility of tax rises. Both parties promise fair policies. They will have a choice between a Conservative Party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in Keeping Taxes down for ordinary working people. 0ur Tax Burdens will not follow until then on low incomes. They will follow most of the broader shoulders or can be in the heaviest burden. Tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the president ial election. More than 100 Afghan Soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks by the taliban on an army base in the country. Also this hour, well take a look at tomorrows front pages, including the sunday times
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