Mangokkal holi

When traveling around in Batak land,one cannot avoid notice all the fancy and impressive graves. Some areas almost look like huge graveyards. The batak area ancestor worshiper and the graves are today the most significant sign of the religious background of the bataks and their beliefs which still live on despite christening. Building monuments is a way of showing success, the unity of the clan and to confirm ones roots.

When a man died he was kept above ground for approximately a week before burial. This practice was however forbidden by the dutch authorities. Several years after the first burial,the body was exhumed and given a nicer place for the final rest. This event is called mangokkal holi and  his one of most important batak ceremonies. It is only used for men. Mangokkal holi washowever  forbidden by the curch,but later they had to retract in order not to loose to many members. Instead the curch tried to purifybthe ceremony from “heathen elements”. Still today the protestan curch often punishes part-takers in traditional ceremonies with temporarynexpulsion.

Before the manokkal holi feast the descendants of the ancestor build a new grave. Normally they have saved mony for some time or one of the more successful descendants pays for a large part of it. At the event itself the bones of ancestor are dug up,washed,and placed in a small container. In the good old days tuak was poured over the bones and spirits evoked. Todsy the ceremonies is led by a curch-leader. The container is then moved to its new home. The graves is normally located away from the village,far from human dirt and feces and with a nice view. An event like  this can take several days and involve the slaughter  of several buffalos,depending on the financial resources. A simple exhumation consist of only prayers,with or without gondang music. 

Gondang music is only used in traditional ceremonie. It is played for traditional dancing and to call the spirits of the ancestor. A full orchestra has 8 members.three are five drums of equal size,a slightly bigger drum,akind of clarinet (sarune),four gongs,each with a different sound,a percussion instrument, and a bamboo xylophonewith 5 or 7 bar. Arriving guests dance tor-tor take part in the dancing, however not according to the church though. Eventually the buffalo is slaughtered and its meat and other food are devided amongst the family  members and guests,according to a stritch traditional ranking system. The head is given to the most important family member the whole event has a strong feeling of the supernatural.