Torajan Carved Flute Player

While it is possible that this figure is a tautau model like the preceding, because of the styling and the lack of a surrounding "tomb" it is more probable that this is simply a depiction of a man playing the 6-holed Torajan flute, an important musical instrument often used for
ceremonial and ritual music making.

The pasuling, or suling lembang, is one of the most popular and widely-known Torajan musical instruments. Between 40 and 100 cm in length, with a diameter of 2 cm, the flute flares out like a recorder at the end. The pa-suling is usually used for folk songs, especially the Torajan songs of mourning (which are manifold and diverse), and is also used to mimic the natural sounds of the Tana Toraja environment. It is played perpendicular to the mouth, rather like blowing into a bottle, but contributes to a very intricate musical tradition, in part because it is not played solo, but requires the support of other similar flutes. In funerary ceremonies, which are extremely involved, a large choir of male mourners process in a circular dance to the home of the deceased while singing highly embellished, drawnout notes. This is accompanied by a gong, a singer, and at least a pair of flutes; other vocalist/flute combinations play elsewhere in the village. All this produces a range of harmonies and overtones, creating a uniquely Torajan musical landscape for the most typical of Torajan ceremonies. Thus, while the pa suling is not unique to Tana Toraja, the music it participates in is not found elsewhere in island Southeast Asia.

Image: Purchased in Suya, Tana Toraja, for $5.