The ritual takes place in the remote regency of Tana Toraja, a mountainous region of South Sulawesi in Indonesia. Villagers hollow out holes in living trees before wrapping their dead infants in cloth and sealing them inside.
The corpse is believed to be absorbed over the years and dozens of children can be interred in each of the trees.
These are the three graves of Indonesia where dead babies are ‘buried’ inside the trunks of living plants so they can be ‘absorbed’ by nature. The ritual takes place in the regency of Tana Toraja, a remote part of the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, 186 miles north of the capital Makassar.
Villagers hollow out holes in huge tree trunks before wrapping the deceased child in cloth and then placing the infant inside. The hole is then sealed over with palm fiber and, as the tree heals over time, the body is believed to be absorbed. Dozens of babies are interred in each tree.
Only children who die before they have started teething are buried in this way with locals believing the wind then takes away their souls. It is not the only burial ritual the Torajans practice.
The ritual takes place in the regency of Tana Toraja, a remote part of the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, 186 miles north of the capital MakassarFamily members of the deceased are also known to exhume their ancestors’ bodies and change their clothes as a way of remembering them and then walk the dead around the village.
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