The traditional house of Toraja is called 'TONGKONAN'.
The Tongkonan of the Torajans is a kinship house belonging to a family unit. Made of wood, it is raised on piles with the roof rising on each end, like the bow and stern of a ship. High gables project in front and poles support the gable peak. The walls consist of panels, decorated with painted engravings of a geometrical design, the most prominent of which are stylized buffalo heads and bird's heads. Rows, of bufallo horns are attached to the front pole. Each house has a rice barn facing it.
There are several versions of the origin of the tongkonan house and its shape. According to some it resembles the boats in which the Torajan ancestors sailed up the Sa'dan river. As they had no houses they turned their boats into dwelling places, therefore the shape of a boat.
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Another version is that the tongkonan represents the cosmos and the roof symbolises the sky. In keeping with ancient traditions, the front is on the northern side, as northeast is the sphere of life.
North and east are the realm of gods, and the front door faces this direction so gods can enter through the front door. According to Toraja cosmology, the earth has a head which is in the north and the tail in the opposite direction. It is taboo to build a house in any other direction.
A Tongkonan founded by an ancestor is where his or her descendants belong and form a kin group or ramage. Because of the ramage system, the Tongkonan is ordered hierarchically and a person's status is defined by the tongkonan to which he or she belongs.
The tongkonan is the centre of rituals and the social centre of the ramage. The name itself is derived from 'tongkon' which means to sit or participate in a funeral ceremony.
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