Toraja Funeral Animal Sacrifice - WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES
15.09.2023 - 15.09.2023
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Below are some images from the buffalo sacrifice at the Toraja funeral we attended in Rantepao. You can read the story and explanations in the full blog entry here.
The animals, which are tied to a tree by one leg, are given a short slice to the neck, causing copious amounts of blood to spurt out.
The squirting blood is considered sacred, and it is important for the blood to be seeping into the earth.
A 'butcher' covered in blood, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Several people take it in turn to perform the killings.
It isn’t so much the actual killings that I find so hard to accept (after all, I eat meat, and most of my father’s family were farmers), it’s the fact that the buffalo do not die instantly, they thrash about for several minutes afterwards in obvious pain and distress. The guttural sound of the buffalo cries, which doesn't come out through the now-severed larynx, but instead escapes through the cut in the throat, will haunt me forever.
Cleaning the knife between each sacrifice
You can return to the original blog entry here.
Posted by Grete Howard 12:06 Archived in Indonesia Tagged indonesia buffalo sulawesi funeral sacrifice toraja rituals buffalo_sacrifice funeral_ritual tanah_toraja ranteapo
Yep, I know it is a tradition but I don't get the suffer of the animals??? To me this too is inhumane.
by Ils1976