Lewis the Lion

A statue shows pallbearers carrying a coffin in the traditional Torajan way

Lewis the Lion was keen to explore the town of Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi as he had heard that it was a unique place particularly in the way they buried their dead. Here funeral festivals called ‘Rambu Solo’ could take a few days to celebrate, culminating in the body being buried high up into a cliff face if they are from a notable family.

The first thing that struck Lewis the Lion when he’d arrived in Tana Toraja in his “Formula One” taxi was the number of roofs that were bow-shaped. He couldn’t be sure if they were houses or storehouses but he would do his best to investigate over the coming days.

Lewis the Lion loves the traditional Torajan curving roofs

For all the town of Tana Toraja was perhaps one of Sulawesi’s top tourist attractions, Lewis the Lion quickly realised that without your own transport, you weren’t likely to get anywhere fast here. Hiring a car was out of the question after experiencing how crazy the drivers were over here and even riding a moped sent shivers down his spine. But even if he had wanted to hire a moped, this seemed far to complicated a task for the locals to organise without wanting to charge an extortionate amount. How on earth were he and his friends going to get around?

The answer came in two forms: one, a type of local taxi-bus called a ‘bemo’ to the centre, Makale and then two, riding pillion on the back of motor-taxi called an ‘oject’ to one of the hillside villages.

Lewis watches life go by in Makale’s Centre

Higher up the hillside, about 5 kilometres from Makale, the funeral preparations for a notable lady were taking place in the village of Lonnó. So clinging onto the back of the motor-taxi driver, the three friends (Lewis the Lion, Helen and Marion) rode up into the mountains which were surrounded by paddy fields.

The rice paddy fields of Tana Toraja

It was clear that the person who had died was from an important or powerful family, judging by the number of grain houses near the family home.

The deceased lady is from a notable family judging from the number of grain houses

Lewis the Lion discovered that both storerooms and ancestoral homes all have the traditional boat-shaped, split-bamboo roofs with ornately, wooden-patterned panels.

Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses

These are called Tongkonan and they stand high on wooden stilts allowing you “to sit” underneath them. He noticed that the walls were finely crafted wood carvings and he could see reds, blacks and yellows with swirls, circles, crosses and rooster emblems. He was surprised to discover that this part of Indonesia was mainly Catholic, even though the majority of Indonesia is Muslim.

The red roofs have an under-panelling which is patterned with designs of swirls and cockrels

As Lewis the Lion, Helen and Marion wandered into the area near the ancestoral home of the deceased family member, they were plainly the only tourists in town and they felt a little bit out of place as the villagers all seemed to be just relaxing and hanging out in and around the courtyard. Thankfully though they were soon welcomed by one of the family members, a Dutch gentleman who was married to one of the daughters of the deceased lady. He very kindly took the time to tell the visitors a little more about the funeral preparations here in Tana Toraja.

First of all, he told them that there are usually two funerals for the person who has died. One which is private straight after the death for the family members and then one which is a public affair which is like a huge party. The second funeral is often very expensive and takes a lot of organising. So while the family raise the funds to host the funeral, the body is preserved by wrapping it in several layers of cloth and is then kept in the family home with a constant vigil. Lewis the Lion discovered that the grandmother in question had died in June but the funeral ceremony wasn’t going to take place till the 24th December so that all the dignitaries could attend the ceremony as she was an important lady. In fact, she was so important that the Sultan of South Sulawesi with his wife would be in attendance, along with other dignitaries at the funeral the next day.

There is a shrine to the deceased lady in her house

Lewis the Lion and his friends were then kindly invited into the family home to pay their respects to the deceased grandmother. She had had 14 children, 8 boys and 6 girls and had had many grandchildren too. It was clear that she had been a much loved lady the way that so many people were gathered together to celebrate her life for her funeral the next day. The Torajans believe that somebody’s life does not end abruptly with death but rather that the soul of the deceased lingers around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to “Puya” or the afterlife.

Friends and family maintain a constant vigil around the desceased member’s coffin

When a person dies, the Torajans believe that as they journey to the afterlife or heaven, they are judged on how successful they have been in their life by how many animal spirits accompany them. The most expensive animal around is the water buffalo so many of them get slaughtered during the funeral festival. Lewis the Lion noticed that outside the Tongkonan were the body lay, were already 27 sets of water buffalo horns. In other words, this was the number of water buffaloes that had been slaughtered during the funeral of the deceased lady’s late husband.

The buffalo horns tell of the sacrifices made in the last funeral festival

They were clearly from a very wealthy and powerful family not only because of the number of grain houses surrounding their traditional home but with so many buffaloes being sacrificed. (The middle classes would normally only kill 8 water buffalo and anything more thann 24 is usually reserved for the royal family or very important families).

The deceased lady is from a notable family judging from the number of grain houses

Although the main funeral festival would take place in two days’ time, Lewis the Lion was rather glad that he wouldn’t be here to see this mass slaughter, as the sacrifice would take place right outside the house where the body was kept. Today the preliminary celebrations seemed much more light hearted with music and water buffalo betting! From the house he noticed a special miniature style house had been prepared for the pallbearers to carry the coffin as you can see in the photo below.

This special Tongkonan will be used to carry the coffin

Outside the house, Lewis the Lion was happy to then listen to some of the women villagers beat out a rhythm using wooden sticks. This funeral music rang out low and loud. This was music was a signal to the village that the afternoon’s entertainment would soon be taking place.

Lewis the Lion enjoys listening to the rhythmical beats

You can click here to see a video clip on You Tube of the ladies as they told the village of the next phase of the funeral festival, as the music rings out across the village.

As the women beat the wood rhythmically, Lewis the Lion delighted in watching an old woman dancing in time to the music. She was thoroughly enjoying herself as she danced with abandonment and a big beam across her face. Click here to see a snippet on You Tube.

This old lady dances merrily in time with the music

A loud speaker then made several announceents in Indonesian which Lewis the Lion couldn’t quite understand but he was told by the family that something special would be happening in one of the lower fields in about half an hour but first he was welcomed to have some lunch with the family.

Sitting underneath one of the grain houses and taking off their shoes, Lewis the Lion and his friends were welcomed to share some food with the bereaved family. Lewis the Lion was sure that the lady who had died would have been very proud of her family as they made the visitors so welcome, sharing with them their rice cooked in banana leaves and pork.

The guests are kindly offered wild rice and pork

They were invited to eat as much as they liked, eating from a piece of paper with their hands, after which they washed their hands in a bowl of water.

Marion shows Lewis how the local people eat the food with their hands

This time one of the deceased lady’s daughters talked to the visitors a bit more about this special ceremony. Even though you could see the sadness behind her eyes over the death of her mother, she told them that this part of the funeral was to be joyous; a time for thanksgiving and celebration. She told them that this traditional ceremony involves Christian aspects but that it is also mixed in with some with traditional local beliefs, such as the body is buried with precious possessions. Lewis the Lion remembered that the Ancient Eygyptians used to do that too!

The water buffaloes are prepared for the afternoon’s entertainment

After lunch, the friends were then invited to go down towards the lower field where big crowds were starting to gather.

Many villagers arrive in flat-back vans

Lewis the Lion had already seen that some of the water buffaloes had their names written on their backs in big white lettering but didn’t understand why.

A water buffalo grazes in front of a traditional Torajan store house

He then learnt that two days prior to the main funeral, the villagers gathered to see the water buffalos locking horns. At first he thought that this sounded a bit barbaric but then he realised that the water buffaloes didn’t actually hurt each other.

Villagers bet on the water buffaloes as they lock horns

The fun came as people placed bets on the water buffalo which they thought would stand his ground for the longest and chase the other buffalo off the field! Big cheers came from the crowd as the two buffaloes chased each other across the fields. There must have been about 300 people enjoying the spectacle.

You can see on this You Tube video a flavour of the afternoon’s entertainment as Lewis the Lion watches the water buffalo competition.

As Lewis the Lion and his friends were intrigued to see what was happening, some of the local children also came to greet him. They were curious to see foreigners all the way up in the mountains here and even more curious to meet a friendly lion!

Some of the local children greet Lewis the Lion – “Selamat pagi!”

Lewis the Lion was most impressed with their language learning skills as many of these children were not afraid to have a go at speaking English. He only wished that he spoke a little bit more Indonesian! Very quickly though, their attention was turned to the main event. Lewis the Lion laughed as he saw the buffaloes chase each other across lots of fields with men running after them, trying to get them to slow down.

Lewis the Lion watches the excitement from a distance!

Hundreds of locals come to see the water buffaloes locking horns

Which buffalo will run away first?

He couldn’t believe that some of the villagers were standing so close to these great beasts but they obviously wanted to get as close to the drama as possible.

After seeing a dozen or so competeting water buffaloes, Lewis the Lion and his friends decided to head back into the town of Makale, eventually finding another ‘oject’ to take them. They chose the right moment to leave as just then, it started to rain.

What a fascinating afternoon it had been! He realised that death in Tana Toraja wasn’t something to be feared but rather something that was celebrated by the whole village. Of course at this time of year, funeral festivals wasn’t the only thing being celebrated. It was two days before Christmas and around the town fireworks were being sold and posters of politicians bade seasons greetings. Lewis the Lion rather liked this one in particular, as he had met these very people when he had been at the Governor’s house not two days before.

A Merry Christmas 2012 and a Happy New Year 2013 from the Governor and deputy Governor of South Sulawesi

He already felt like he was getting a real taste of the life and culture here in Sulawesi.

Lewis the Lion wants you to imagine that you lived in Tana Toraja.

If you died there what possessions would you like to bring with you into ‘Puya’ or the afterlife?

Lewis the Lion could barely believe that he was arriving in yet another country on his worldwide journey: his 15th to be precise and this time he was landing on the spider-shaped island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Lewis the Lion arrives in Sulawesi, Indonesia

After Helen had paid her US $25 on arrival for her visa into the country, he then happily met up with his friend Marion who he had last seen in Melbourne, Australia. She had some rather exciting news to share with him that really came out of the blue. Instead of the friends sitting down and planning their Indonesian adventure together at the airport as they had expected, they met up with a lovely lady from Borneo called Yulie who was of royal descent who invited them to a special royal ceremony the next day in another part of the island.

Lewis the Lion meets the lovely, welcoming Yulie

How exciting! It seemed a bit surreal and if he was honest his head felt as if it was in a bit of a spin as they were whisked away to buy some appropriate clothes for the next day.
Lewis the Lion discovered that there are many different islands that make up Indonesia, (17,000) some of the biggest ones being Kalimantan (Borneo), Sumatra and Papua and that each one has its own king or sultan. They are called sultans because Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country.

Before being chauffeur-driven from Makassar to their hotel in Parepare, they met some other very special guests back at the airport who shared the car with them: some of Yulie’s family who were royalty too, including an uncle who was a prince

Prince Syakhrin welcomes the Westerners

and a cousin who was the young prince.

Lewis the Lion meets the Young Prince Rendy

Lewis the Lion, for all he was king of the jungle, didn’t think he’d ever been so close to real royalty before as he saw the young prince’s big, diamond ring sparkling away in the night! The young prince was very generous too as he paid for the friends’ hotel room for two nights. How kind!

Prince Rendy welcomes the guests to the celebration

The alarm clock wasn’t the only thing that woke Lewis the Lion up the next morning but also the soothing sound of the Imam from the local mosque. He had arrived in the dead of night so it was a pleasant surprise to look out over the town and see the golden-domed mosque and the sea below.

Looking over the gold-domed mosque of Parepare

Yulie made sure that Helen and Marion were wearing their new dresses for the ceremony.

The Borneo Cousins are smartly dressed for the ceremony

Everybody looked very smartly dressed for the occasion and the young Prince Rendy even had a special ceremonial sword.

A hilt with a real ivory carving on top of Prince Rendy’s sword

After breakfast the friends were then chauffeured to Sidrapt, about an hour and a half away.

The car is blocked by a throng of people

They knew they had arrived as all of a sudden the car couldn’t move any further as it was blocked by a colourful sea of people. What happened next came as a complete surprise to Lewis the Lion as whilst he was admiring all the beautiful costumes of the people attending the ceremony, it appeared that he, Helen and Marion were the day’s main attraction.

Lewis the Lion is treated like a celebrity out on the streets!

People rushed up with mobile phones and cameras, snap-snapping away wanting to get their photos taken with the ‘new royalty’ in town. Westerners like Helen from England and Marion from France were clearly a huge novelty here and they certainly felt like royalty or celebrities for the day with the paparazzi all around them.

Many people stop Helen to have their photo taken with her

After shaking hands with many important people and dignitaries, they were ushered through under a bright cloth canopy to take their seat.

The reception is lavishly decorated in red and gold

Lewis the Lion just loved the way he and his friends were greeted by these friendly people. Even though he didn’t speak their language, their body language spoke clearly of their warm welcome. After shaking their hand these VIPs would move their hand back towards their chest, showing you that they take you to their heart. How wonderful to make a stranger feel so welcome like that! On sitting down, they were immediately offered some water to drink and some salat fruit. It was the first time Lewis the Lion had ever tried this fruit and after peeling off the coarse skin, he thought the white segmented fruit beneath tasted a little like strawberries.

Lewis the Lion tries a fruit which tastes a bit like strawberries

From their elegant seats draped in material, on the front row they could see men wearing special hats indicating their importance: members of the extended royal family or royal family members from other Indonesian islands. At the front were thrones and a ceremonial area draped in fine material gold and red with servants holding decorative umbrellas.

Lewis the Lion admires the traditional dress of the servants

They were all awaiting the arrival of the most important guests of the day: the Sultan of South Sulawesi, together with his wife the Sultana and their entourage.

Lewis the Lion, Yulie and Young Prince Rendy await the Sultan

Just before they graced the reception with their royal presence, Lewis the Lion, Helen and Marion were invited to go and see the royal welcome. There were many people out on the streets excitedly waiting for the royal entrance with cameras and mobile phones in hand.

The crowd await eagerly for the arrival of the Sultan and Sultana

Decorated horses also greet the royal party

Horses with colourful bridles stood by the roadside, whilst dancers in bright yellow blouses and blue-checkered, bustled skirts led the procession.

Dancers and musicians welcome the royal party

They were quickly followed by percussion instruments beating a steady rhythm, whilst decorative umbrellas were held over the heads of the Sultan’s family.

The royal entourage are shielded with canopies

Lewis the Lion knew that the Sultan and his wife had arrived as they walked underneath of a red cloth canopy, shielding them from the sun.

The Sultan and Sultana are welcomed to the ceremony

The Sultana looks very happy to be here

Girls in pretty green costumes with a Scottish tartan looking skirts lined the way for the royalty to take to their thrones.

Finely dressed ladies get ready to greet the royal party

It was now time for all the guests to take to their seats as prayers were read out for the Sultan and his wife.

The Sultan and Sultana of South Sulawesi in their finery

Lewis the Lion hadn’t got a clue what was being said next in the ceremony but he was just happy to be there and admire all the bright costumes around him as there was a real sense of occasion. Eventually, he saw different groups of the elegantly dressed people parading around in front of the Sultan and Sultana before the ceremony seemed to be tied up quickly. It was then time for Helen, Marion and Lewis the Lion (who was safely in Helen’s bag at this point) were introduced to the King and Queen themselves. They seemed quite elderly so it was a huge privilege and honour to be introduced to them.

Helen and Marion have their photo taken with the Sultan and Sultana

No sooner had they shaken hands with the Sultan and Sultana, then rather embarrassingly there was a lot of pushing and shoving as many of the guests wanted their photo taken with Helen and Marion and all in front of the Sultan and his wife! Lewis the Lion was only glad he was hidden in Helen’s bag at this point as he didn’t feel very comfortable with the situation and was only glad that he and his friends were celebrities for just one day.

People jump in to have their photos taken with the white Westerners

There was then a mad dash for the buffet lunch where it seemed like the ‘survival of the fittest’ rule applied. Lewis the Lion reckons that there must have been between 250-300 people attending the ceremony and after he’d managed to get a plate of food, he and his friends decided to eat it outside and grab some fresh air, seeing as it was so hot in the main room with so many people. Yet again, he was bombarded by people wanting to have their photographs taken with him and the girls, this time not only with the guests but with the local villagers gathered outside too. He was already starting to feel a bit weary of being the star attraction, the centre of attention as he couldn’t even eat his meal in peace. Even though he willingly obliged to pose and smile for the photographs, he was only glad that this didn’t happen too often in his little lion life!

The guests relax between the two ceremonies

If he was honest, he was rather happy to make his escape into the cool air-conditioned car back to his hotel together with the girls, Yulie, Prince Rendy, Andy and her uncle, Prince
Syakhrin.

The car stops so its passengers can taste the fresh fruit

Along their way, they stopped the car to buy some traditional fruit from a stall by the roadside.

Lewis loves the fresh fruit sold by the roadside in Sulawesi

Prince Rendy with Lewis the Lion at the fruit stall

Here the seller chopped up two different types of mango so they could taste the difference. They were very sweet and juicy.

The lady chops up some of the different mangoes to try

This is when Lewis the Lion saw a real pro in action as Yulie’s uncle negotiated a great deal on a bag of mangoes knocking the price down from 11,000 rupiahs to 6,000 rupiahs.

The Uncle Prince shows what a good bargainer he is!

Indonesia is a country where you often need to barter or negotiate the price and it’s often better if you’ve done your research first so you have an idea of the right price. As a tourist, Lewis the Lion was only too aware of the fact that he was a target for being overcharged so it was just as well that his travelling friend, Marion was a mean negotiator too but he’ll tell you more about that in one of his next blogs.

The fun hadn’t quite ended for one day as Lewis the Lion was again treated like royalty that evening as this time he was welcomed to the state governor’s home, together with many of the guests who had attended the morning ceremony.

Take two: at the State Governor’s house

There was a line up again where everybody shook everybody else’s hands. What surprised Lewis the Lion was that here in Asia, women wanted their skin to look whiter and so wore whitener on their faces. That was the opposite of many Western men and women who liked to have the suntanned look, with bronzers, sunbeds and lotions. These Asians certainly seemed to notice Helen’s pale skin!

More people want to have their photos taken with these Western guests

Lewis the Lion thought it was funny how people always wanted what someone else had: ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ mentality.

The evening’s entertainment involves music and dancing

This time at the governor’s house there was more traditional singing and dancing by a group of performers on stage. Then the guests of honour arrived again, the Sultan and his wife. It seemed like there were more prayers being said from the main stage as different people stood up to take the microphone.

A rock group finished off the evening’s celebrations and the older members certainly seemed to make a swift get away as the music rang out loud through the night!

What a spectacular day it had been. Lewis the Lion couldn’t have dreamt this up! Yet again, he felt like the luckiest lion alive to have had such a wonderful opportunity to be welcomed by Indonesian royalty.

Would you like to be a celebrity for a day, like Lewis the Lion, Helen and Marion? Why or why not?

Lewis is certainly impressed by the ‘Spirit of Malaysia’

“As an internationally acclaimed national landmark, the Petronas Towers are a national pride to the people of Malaysia. They symbolise the courage, ingenuity, initiative and determination, energy, confidence, optimism, advancement and zest of a nation that will bring worldwide recognition and respect to all Malaysians.”
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammed, Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia

Lewis the Lion simply loved Kuala Lumpur for a number of reasons:

Lewis the Lion enjoys Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant street life

Lewis the Lion sees the humorous husband and wife cakes

*The people were friendly, unpretentious and great fun.

The drumming competition pulls in a crowd

(See this snippet of when Lewis the Lion saw a percussion competition in the centre of town).

*The shopping was incredible and voted as the second best place to shop in Asia as posters proudly proclaimed this status across the city. There was even an amusement park and huge roller coaster in one of its shopping centres called Times Square

Inside the Times Square shopping mall with its roller coaster

*They had a very efficient monorail system (the first that Lewis the Lion had been on in his life) which took you high above the city streets

KL’s monorail rides high above the city streets

Catching the Kuala Lumpur monorail

*The pedestrian was always right and cars had to stop to let them pass by

*It celebrated how the lives of different immigrants had enriched its culture as seen when Lewis the Lion visited markets of Chinatown, the Batu Caves (Check out his next blog.) and tried all of the different international cuisines in its food courts

The bustling market of KL’s Chinatown

*and last but perhaps most impressively of all, Kuala Lumpur had a several towers that really were reflective of its ambition to become “a fully developed industrialised nation by 2020,” notably the Petronas Towers and the Sky Tower.

Lewis the Lion looks up at KL’s other famous tower: The Sky Tower

Lewis the Lion was lucky enough to visit the Petronas Towers (also known as the Petronas Twin Towers) whilst he stayed in KL, truly the national symbol of Malaysia. For six years, between 1998 and 2004, they were the tallest skyscrapers in the world and rapidly became the symbol of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. Designed by the Argentinean architect, César Pelli, they stand proud at 451.9 metres with an adjoining bridge called the Sky Bridge at Level 41 and 42. Their design reflects Islamic geometry and each have 88 floors in total. They are made of reinforced concrete, steel and glass with 55,000 glass panels in total. ‘That’s a lot of window cleaning!’ thought Lewis the Lion cheekily.

One of his favourite parts of his visit to the Petronas Towers (so named after their sponsor, Petronas, the Malaysian oil giant) apart from the lift which shot up the different levels, was the use of holograms. He felt that he was truly in a futuristic building, especially when he used the QR code on his ticket to built up and hold a virtual Petronas Tower in his little paw!

Here in Lewis the Lion’s photo gallery you can see what he learnt and saw on his visit to the Petronas Twin Towers.

Here too are some video clips of his visit:

This is what Lewis the Lion saw from the Sky Bridge of the Petronas Towers.

Lewis the Lion sees the height of the Petronas Towers as you can see him looking up at them in this You Tube clip.

Have you ever used a mobile phone to scan QR codes? If not, ask a friend or an adult to show you how it’s done.
If you are familiar with using QR codes, teach someone else how to use them!