The Ma’nene Ritual is a traditional ritual in Tana Toraja where the bodies of Toraja family ancestors will be cleaned, replaced with clothes and cloth..
Ma’ Nene’ is a traditional ritual in Toraja culture. This ritual is a ritual in which corpses that are tens or even hundreds of years old are removed from the grave to be cleaned and changed into clothes and cloth. This traditional ritual is included in the traditional Rambu Solo’ (death) ceremony.
This ritual begins with family members coming to Patane to collect the bodies of relatives who have died. Patane is a house-shaped grave where bodies are kept.
Before opening the coffin and lifting the body, Ne’tomina will recite a prayer in ancient Toraja language and ask permission from the ancestors so that the community will receive mercy and blessings from every planting season until harvest. Ne’tomina itself is a traditional title given to elders or elders, it can also mean priest or priest.
Then the body was cleaned using a brush after being removed from Patane and the clothes were replaced with new cloth or clothes. After the new clothes were put on, the body was put back into Patane. The series of Ma’nene events closed with family members gathering at the Tongkonan traditional house to worship together.
Usually the Ma’nene ritual is carried out simultaneously by one family or even one village, so this tradition lasts quite a long time. The time for implementing Ma’nene is based on agreement with the family and Ne’tomina through the Village Conference. This tradition is held once every three to four years to strengthen ties so that families who are overseas can visit their parents or Nene To’dolo (ancestors).
The customs of a Ma’nene ceremony differ depending on what region of Toraja they are being practised. Although not using the term Ma’nene, in some parts of southern Toraja family members re-dress and clean the Tau Tau of the deceased, an event that is usually held after a harvest. In particular regions of Tana Toraja, villagers who still follow Aluk Todolo conduct Mantata’da, considered a form of Ma’nene that consists of giving food offerings to the ancestors. In parts of northern Toraja, such as Sesean and Pangala’, family members take out deceased relatives from their cliff and boulder burial chambers to re-dress and re-wrap the deceased in new cloth bindings.
