In the misty hills of the South Sulawesi (Indonesia) there is a buffalo obsession. The Torajas ride buffalos, eat buffalos, worship buffalos, count in buffalos and eventually slaughter them during elaborate funeral ceremonies. Buffalos are the vehicles taking the dead to the land of souls.

Landscape of the South Sulawesi with a traditional Toraja house, a tongkonan. The Torajas (about half a million people) have kept their traditions vibrant, helped by the remoteness of the region.
A young Toraja running with his buffalo in preparation for a race. Buffalos are not only used in farming works but are at the centre of many ceremonies and celebrations.
TWo young men bringing back a buffalo after a day at the fields.
A young Torajan holding a buffalo to be slaughtered at a funeral ceremony.
A buffalo bleeding to death in front of the guests attending the funeral. A funeral usually involves the slaughter of two dozens buffalos as well as some other animals.
A buffalo facing his death during a funeral.
A buffalo is being slaughtered while two others are laying dead. The albino buffalo alone is worth $50 000. Funerals are also an affair of prestige for the family of the dead and relatives pay a fortune for the ceremony.
An albino buffalo laying dead while others are waiting to be slaughtered. According to local beliefs the blood is feeding the land. Slaughters contribute to a good harvest.
A sculpted wooden buffalo head decorating a tongkonan, the traditional Toraja house. In Tana Toraja, Buffalos are revered and ubiquitous as a decorative motif.
The day after the buffalos slaughter, at the funeral of 91 years old Ruth Saro, her coffin is taken down from her home. She died 18 months before. Months usually take place between the death and the funeral. A time allowing for the preparation of th
A group of relatives crying over the coffin of Ruth Saro who died at 91, 18 months before her funeral. The ceremony is a weeklong affair involving the slaughter of over 50 animals with the whole village and beyond taking part. Ruth Saro belonged to
A group of youth shaking the coffin of Ruth Saro in a simili battle.
As they bring the coffin to its final resting place, young friends and relatives of the deceased push each others, a joyous moment marking the end of the funeral.
The coffin of Ruth Saro is brought to the cemetery, the final moment of a ceremony that lasted a week.
In Londa, a cave containing skulls and dozens of coffins. According to the Toraja tradition, the dead are placed in holes carved in cliffs or in caves where they are left to decay.
A Toraja grave with a picture of the dead and a tau tau, a carved wooden statue representing the deceased.
The Sunday mass at a church in Rantepao. Torajas have been converted to Christianism by the Dutch colonisers who were trying to counter the influence of Islam. The missionaries, to maximise conversions, have allowed the Torajan traditional beliefs t
A Torajan grave looking like a miniature tongkonan . According to Torajan beliefs, death, much more than birth and marriage, is considered the true zenith of life. Death marks the beginning of a new life in a parallel world.
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