Ke’te Kesu’ – Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

Ke’te Kesu’ is one of the oldest traditional villages in Tana Toraja, tucked away between steep lime-stone outcrops and rice fields. The village is over 400 years old, and is said to have not changed at all in the last 400 years.

Ke’te Kesu’ is home to about 20 families and consists of eight traditional “Tongkonan” houses, set in rows facing each other, complete with connected rice barns. The walls of the Tongkonan are adorned with beautiful carvings and buffalo horns, which indicate the homeowner’s status. In the original Toraja Society, only those of noble blood were given the right to build Tongkonan, while the common people lived in smaller, less elaborate houses.