tana toraja in indonesia is an extraordinary place.nimist beliefs intertwine with new religions, resulting in unique rituals. at this traditional torajan funeral, friends and family gather to celebrate the life of a wealthy local man called dengan, who died over two years ago. but here is the strange thing. as far as his family and everybody else here are concerned, dengan is still alive. torajans have a strong desire to stay connected to their dead loved ones. in spirit and in body. to see what this means in practice, i went to visit a torajan family. hello. nice to meet you. this is dandoru. he is 86 and his family take care of him. dandoru died more than two years ago. here, it takes months and sometimes years, until a funeral actually takes place. in the meantime, families keep the deceased in the house and care for them on a daily basis. they treat them as if they were sick. torajans traditionally rub special leaves and herbs over a body to preserve it. nowadays, a chemical called formalin is often injected into the body to embalm