Toraja Mountain Coffee

A NATURAL CONNECTION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND COFFEE.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

THE TORAJANESE ARE AN ETHNIC GROUP INDIGENOUS TO THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF SOUTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA.

The Tana Toraja heritage has been handed over from generation to generation for at least 700 years, possibly even into pre-history. Today, the population stands at approximately 650,000 - of which 450,000 people still live in the Tana Toraja (the Land of Toraja) Regency.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

THE TANA TORAJA TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENT IS A PART OF A LIVING TRADITION.

It is a manifestation of Alùk Todolo, the Toraja belief system which governs the life of the society. It is related to various ceremonies and customs within the Torajan cultural system. The heritage provides a strong identity as well as social values not only for the Torajan people but also for Austronesian ethnic groups which make up the majority of the Indonesian population.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

VILLAGES

Traditionally, a Torajan settlement consists of a compound of houses (tongkonan) and granaries (alangs), burials (liang), ceremonial grounds with menhirs (rante), rice-fields, bamboo forests, and grazing ground or pasture for buffalo and pigs.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

LANDSCAPE

The mountains and rivers have a place in myths and oral histories of the Torajanese, especially the genealogies and accounts attached to their particular noble origin-houses.

TONGKONAN

Nothing is more iconic to Torajan culture than the Tongkonan structure. Some say traditional Toraja houses represent buffalo heads and horns, other suggest they represent the ships the Toraja use to come to Sulawesi. Others still say they are “space arcs” from another planet.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

VILLAGE LIFE

The Toraja people enjoy great longevity, surely something to do with the cool climate and active lifestyle from infancy to old age. They spend their lives growing uniquely low-acid coffee, excellent fragrant rice, raising magnificent buffalo, especially the highly valued pink albino strains. 

BUFFALO

Huge. Strong. Stout. Torajan buffalos are bigger than most and mean a lot more to the people than just an animal.it is a vessel of the spirit of life , a former symbol of money and barter, a status symbol and a critical part of the Rambu Solo death ritual.

Toraja Mountain Coffee

MUMMUFIED DEAD

You might call them zombies. But you’d be wrong. Because Torajan people do not merely bury or cremate their dead, they actually have them live on for a great length of time in the house, showering them with gifts and the attention of relatives.