dead standing up

Sarcophagi at Karajia — the Chachapoya often buried their dead in sarcophagi in caves on steep cliffs.

Karajia, close to Chachapoya, Peru, October 2015.

Grytviken and Shackelton's grave

South! The story of Shakelton's book on his last expedition 1914 to 1917 did't end here but from South Georgia the rescue mission via Punta Arenas began that finally brought back all crew from Elephant island, Antarctica.  

Grytviken, South Georgia, British Overseas Territory, U.K., February 2015.

French Barber Shop

Toulouse, France, May 2015.

crowded afterlife

Potosi, Bolivia, March 2015.

Triple grave

Three in a box: Queen Mentewab (or Queen How Beautiful) with her son and grandson.

Qwasqwam Palace, Gondar, Ethiopia, January 2012.

50 + 50

Macau, China, July 2011.

Burning gath

Varanasi, India, September 2011.

Kawaii tomb stone

"Mitten im Leben sind wir dem Tode nahe" it says.

Did he write it?

Kawai, Hawaii, April 2011.

Smasched cockroach

Manila, March 2011.

Keep on smiling

Hongkong, May 2010.

Breakfast on the grave

Graves are in the middle of Sumbanese traditional villages, the entrance of the houses facing them. Besides providing a house for the dead reflecting their status in life and ensuring that their happiness in the after world will benefit their descendants, graves have multiple functions. They provide a perfect surface for clothes to dry, for coffee to ripen, for dogs to sleep, for children to play, for old people to chew betel and exchange information, or for tourists sleeping on the veranda of a traditional house to have their breakfast. We enjoyed ours a lot!!

Wuntalaka, Patiyala, West-Sumba, February 2010.

Dead 12 years and still enjoying family life

Basically, we are longer dead than alive. We know that, but ignore it. The people from Sumba are very well aware of it, and prepare accordingly for life in the afterworld. So the former rajah of Pau and his younger brother. The rajah died 12 years ago, his brother 5 years ago. Both were still in their family house, waiting for proper funerals to take place. In the meantime, the rajah in seated position was wrapped in 200 pieces of ikat, the traditional Sumbanese woven cloth, his wrapped corpse put in a wooden cabinet itself covered with ikat. His brother as a Christian was also wrapped in ikat, but in a reclined position. As the daughter of the rajah opened the wooden cabinet where the corpse was, she immediately put a small table with some betel nut on it for the dead to enjoy.

Nobody knows when the funerals can take place. Funerals request a huge amount of sacrificial cattle (chicken, pigs and buffaloes) as well as a proper grave. The huge tombstone was already bought, but still had to be carved and moved to the village (70 km away). Upon arrival in the village, it would be dragged to the burial place in the traditional way, by men moving it on logs. The family would have to cover the costs and the meals for all workers involved. Plus entertaining hundreds of people. The rajah and his brother could well enjoy their sirih (betel) for a few years more…

East Sumba, February 2010.

Toraja dumpsite?

In Tana Toraja the alive live with the dead and life is considered to be only a preparation to death. Certainly a wise observation. Anyway by visiting graves many earthy items can be spotted ranging from plastic bags to plastic water bottles. Offerings for the dead or transfering garbage to them?

Similar ancestor cults exist throughout South-East Asia, in particular among the Strait Chinese.

Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, May 2009.

Offerings to the dead: send flames onto the family

The Chinese do a lot of offerings to the deceased. These offerings are made by burning fake money notes, known as hell money but also paper versions of what the deceased enjoyed on Earth or what the ancestor would have loved to have. Some families burn paper houses, cars, credit cards, flight tickets to give to their dead relatives. The Chinese feel that these offerings reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in their new world.

Sometimes they also burn 'themselves' as seen below to foster the continuing relation between the alive and the deceased.

Malacca, Malaysia, July 2009.

Baby grave: how the dead grow with the alive

Losing a child is probably one of the worst kind of losses anyone could possibly go through. The way Torajan people bury babies may offer some comfort. Babies less than six month old are buried in big trees. A square hole is opened in the tree trunk and the little corpse put inside. The trees must have a white sap, so that the dead babies can feed on them like on breast milk. So can they, who were denied the opportunity to grow on themselves, grow with the tree that carries them.

A tree can have as many as 20 graves in it. A special ceremony has to be performed for such a funeral. The food cooked has to be eaten at the burial place, and will not be distributed to outsiders.

Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, May 2009.

Defreezing a gecko

A Sunday tropical story

After opening the fridge to get some eggs out for a wonderful Sunday brunch we noticed a gecko on one of the eggs. Usually geckos which are in abundance in our home are somewhat green. This fellow was more grayish with eyes closed making it clear that it spent at least the whole night in the fridge. We observed the gecko for a little while and then it opened its eyes and the rescue began. We brought it out into more temperate climate—around 30 degrees Celsius currently—to defreeze the gecko. It started to open its mouth and its tail made first moves. We did our best in providing water; we even got a fresh mosquito for it. Moreover, we made sure that ants got not too interested in the now light greenish body. We fought for two hours but lost the battle. Now we check the whole fridge before going to bed and stop arguing in front of an open fridge if it would be better to have wine, beer or whatever with the dinner.

Yesterday at home, Jakarta, August 2009.

Tau-tau effigies overlooking the land and the alive

In Tana Toraja rocks used for burials can be located on the fields, in the forest, or be high cliffs. People buried high up in cliffs are people with statute or noblemen. The graves are chiseled out of the cliff, accessed through bamboo scaffoldings to put the coffin in, the door to the grave is closed and the scaffoldings removed. When the rocks are accessible, the doors are locked with padlocks to prevent burial goods from being stolen.

People of high birth often choose to add a tau-tau on the cliff where they are buried. A tau-tau is an effigy of the dead person, and reminds of her/him. Big buffalo sacrifices are to be made (at least 24 buffaloes) for acquiring the right to have a tau-tau.

Royal graves in Suaya (close to Makale) with very old tau-taus.

Tau-taus from Londa below.

Below tau taus from Kete Kesu (south of Rantepao).

Unfortunately, many tau-taus have been stolen to be sold in art galleries. Most of the accessible tau-tau are now “behind bars”.

Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, May 2009.

R.I.P the Torajan way

In Tana Toraja there are several methods of burial: the coffin is being (i) put into a cave, (ii) placed into a carved stone grave, (iii) hung on a cliff, (iv) placed into a house or (v) the deceased baby is being buried in a tree. The latter methods allows for further growth in the afterlife. Buried are some of the possessions the deceased may need in the afterlife.

The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. By visiting Tana Toraja people can often been seen hammering into such cliffs, often they have to do it for months depending on the size which can reach living room sizes.

Pictures above and below show hanging coffins. When a coffin is broken and the bones have to be moved, an animal (mostly a pig) must be slaughtered before been alowed to touch the bones.

The picture below is showing a mass grave with possessions of the less wealthy.

Wood-carved effigies, called tau tau, are usually placed in the cave looking out over the land.

A rante is a burial ground (shown below) where funeral ceremonies take place. During the ceremony, the dead person remains on a provisional house built for the occasion. The megaliths of this rante (in the village of Bori) have been here for at least 600 years. When a family wants to bring a megalith to be allowed to use a rante, at least 20 buffaloes have to be slaughtered.

Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, May 2009.

Feeding the dead

Gods material shops (神料商店) are abundant in Chinese areas throughout East Asia. These shops are specialized in supplying materials for worship related to Chinese beliefs, these often being a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and whatever has crossed Chinese minds in the past thousands of years. Many of the items are made of paper and are effigies of the goods the deceased is longing for.

Below are some selected items for sale in Gods material shops:

A torch (below) as the souls may need more light...

... or a shirt, however it's the tropical version of cloth. Tried to find a fur coat made out of paper but it seems that the dead are not asking for it currently. It's surely a demand driven business.

An airline ticket together with God's mastercard: It's very important for the dead to stay mobil: traveling from paradies to hell and vice versa?

A nice mahjong set will provide the continuation of gambling in the afterlife.

Not one, but five different hand phones; just as in real life.

A pair of red sandales for the woman and cigars for the man, what else would make afterlife bearable?

Below some items for kids ...

... and for the 'branded' lady.

... and a house; why not to ask for more?

... like toilet items as bad breath may spoil no found relationships.

A ventilator as rightly presumed it will be a crowded place down/up there which deserves lot's of ventilation.

... and the winner is a white Rolls Royce, with driver. Just as in real life.

... don't miss the set of underwear for the lady below!

Malacca, Malaysia, July 2009.