Toraja custom demands that ancestors be held in great esteem, regardless of expense. The funeral rite for a rambu solo', a member of the "golden caste" (nobility), for instance, may cost hundreds of millions of rupiah for the slaughter of at least 24 buffaloes. Those belonging to the "iron and wood castes" (middle class) use 6-12 buffaloes and the "grass-roots caste" only need several sows as a sacrifice.

"Descendants are obliged