Rambu Solo'

In the Rambu Solo’ funeral ceremony, music, chant, and ritual intertwine as a single language between the living and the dead. The rhythmic pulse of drums, gongs, and voices guides the soul of the departed toward Puya, the afterlife, maintaining harmony between the earthly and ancestral realms. At the heart of the ceremony lies the Ma’badong - a hypnotic chant sung in a circle of men, whose unified voices carry grief, remembrance, and release. As the songs rise, the sacred buffalo - symbols of strength, wealth, and passage - stand as offerings and companions for the soul’s final journey. Their sacrifice becomes part of the music itself, echoing through the valley like a bridge between worlds. When the time comes to carry the coffin to its resting place, men lift it high, shouting, laughing, and pulling back in playful resistance - a final dance between love and letting go, where sorrow and vitality move as one.