Home DESTINATION CENTRAL KALIMANTAN TENGAH 中加里曼丹 Dayak Ngaju Native Village, Bukit Rawi, Central Kalimantan

Dayak Ngaju Native Village, Bukit Rawi, Central Kalimantan

December 13, 2014

Location : Desa Bukit Rawi, Kecamatan Kahayan Tengah, Kabupaten Pulang Pisau, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia.

Our second day adventure in Palangka Raya started with a 30 minutes ride to a Ngaju village at Bukit Rawi, north of Palangkaraya. Regretted not buying a mask. It was very dusty on some parts of the ride. As we entered the village road, Kornelius stopped us to show and explain some of the edible wild berries along side the road.

adventure, ancestral bone house, bike ride, culture, Hindu Kaharingan, Indonesia, Kahayan River, outdoor, Palangka Raya, Pasah Patahu, Pulang Pisau, Sandung, Tiwah, Tomb — Entrance to Bukit Rawi

We were interrupted by the beatings of gong coming from the village. Hurried to the source and found out that it was a Ngaju wedding ceremony going on. Without hesitation the hosts invited us in to take photos. We gladly accepted. The bridegroom was in striking red attire but the bride had yet to make her appearance. Apologies, we had to leave without her photos.

adventure, bike ride, culture, Hindu Kaharingan, Indonesia, Kahayan River, outdoor, Palangka Raya, Pulang Pisau, — Relatives helped prepare the big feast

adventure, ancestral bone house, bike ride, Borneo Central, culture, Hindu Kaharingan, Indonesia, Kahayan River, Obyek wisata, outdoor, Palangka Raya, Pulang Pisau, Sandung, Tiwah, Tomb — Altar / Pasah Patahu

My conversation on the subject of rattan with Kornelius brought us to the house of a very sweet rattan weaver in the person of Tambi (which means granny) Atar. Her glistening silvery hair sure enhanced her beauty as well as her weaving skill.

Tambi Atar & her younger brother

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Besides her skillful finger and toes, she had a dozen other tools to help produce her rattan bags which she sold in town. She also took the trouble to give us the name of every individual tool and described the stages of processing. Interesting to learned that some tools were gender determined. Men’s knives are shaped differently from the ladies’.

We took our last few photos with her and thanked her for the crash course. I would strongly recommend tour guides to include her in their packages. Take note Kornelius!

The process of Dayak Ngaju lady weaving rattan bag: stripping, peeling, thinning, weaving.

bike ride, Kalimantan Tengah, culture, Indonesia, Kahayan River, Obyek wisata, Palangka Raya, Pulang Pisau, Sandung, plant, rotan tree, — Rattan grows abundantly around this village

Next on the agenda was the visits to many colourful ‘sandungs’ (Dayak ancestral bone house) of the Ngaju. Sandung is a tomb for the collection of bones of family members after the ground burial and maybe exhumed a year later (depending on the living family’s financial status) in a ceremony called ‘tiwah’. (For more info on this subject please check out this link –www.borneotourgigant.com/Tiwah.html )

Sandung Tamanggung Lawak Sura Jaya Pati

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Other sandungs

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For the last sandung visit we rode to the vicinity of Tuwong to take photos of Meldy’s grandfather’s tomb. It was here at Meldy’s convenience store that we took our lunch break. Enjoy the chat with him and his family too.