The Year Without a Summer (1816)

 

No, it's not Westeros where winter lasts a long time or when the boring Starks give inaccurate weather predictions for years.

It was 1816, the following year after Mount Tambora erupted. Mount Tambora stood at 4300 meters high (14107 feet), located in Sumbawa, Lesser Sunda Island, Indonesia.

It was scaled at 7 VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index), spewing over 150 cubic km (around 36 cubic miles) volume of materials; ash, pumice, rock, sulfur etc. triggering tsunamis, with casualties expected around 71000 to 91000 deaths in Indonesia alone. Direct casualties were estimated at 10000, with the follow-up famine and disease tolls from longer-term impact.

The explosion of Mount Tambora was so powerful, and the materials mixed with atmospheric gas prevented substantial amount of sunlight from reaching the earth, it lowered the earth's temperature significantly around 1 to 3 Celsius degrees (note: various numbers from different sources, perhaps it was based on geographical impact differences). If it doesn't sound like a lot, consider this: crops failures, famine ensued, and there was no summer in the following year. The impact reached Western Europe and eastern North America that experienced sporadic periods of heavy snow and killing frost. It caused food shortages all around Northern Hemisphere. 1816 was known as the year without summer.

The explosion created a caldera with a diameter of more than 6 km (3.7 miles) and 600-1250 meters (2000 to 4000 feet) deep. Mount Tambora was reduced to 2850meter high.

These are some recorded impacts in Indonesia.

Free map with self-illustration

Source: Idntimes.com

Source: theconversation.com

Mount Tambora now (Source: Kompas.com)

Mount Tambora now (Source: kwriu.kemdikbud.go.id)

Sherlock Holmes the Forensic Pioneer

Nowadays, when we think about forensics, there are many fascinating ways to get clues for crime scene investigations. Fingerprints, ballistic, blood splatters, hair and fiber analysis and many more. All these are invented and developed over time. There were so many cold cases, unsolved crimes, murderers who got away before DNA. These forensics developments take time and serious dedication.

But do you know that some of those forensic methods were pioneered by a fictional character?

Not an ordinary fictional character, but the great Sherlock Holmes, whose stories have inspired countless adaptations, products and honors. His name had been embedded in history.

Sherlock Holmes was the pioneer in typewritten analysis; he analyzed the idiosyncrasies of the typewritten notes of his suspect and compared them with evidences. It was as early as 1891 (A Case of Identity), and it took forty years, FORTY YEARS, for the FBI to pick up the method and start its document analysis section in 1932. Holmes himself wrote monograph titles "The Typewriter and its Relation to Crime."

The other more famous method he pioneered was fingerprint.

One of his famous tales is The Sign of Four, published in 1890. The Scotland yard only started using fingerprint identification methods in 1901, a decade after.

Before that, a method called anthropometry or Bertillonage was used. Bertillonage is the system of identification by measuring twelve characteristics of the body; it was a meticulous measurement of, for example, head length, head breadth, length of the middle finger, etc. 

It was fine until we arrived at the infamous and bizarre Will West Case.

Get this, two inmates, named William West and Will West, were admitted into the same Leavenworth Penitentiary. When Will West arrived, and his measurements were taken, it matched him to the record of a convicted murderer, William West.

So, they caught a murderer! But the problem was, William West was already incarcerated at Leavenworth. The two men had similar initial and last names, and they looked so identical even Will West thought the photograph of William West was his own photograph.

Subsequently, their fingerprints were compared, and the patterns bore no resemblance. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Holmes, still used fingerprint method decades later in his 55th and 56th stories, The Adventure of the Three Gales and The adventure of the Norwood Builder. Doyle chose the method with the soundest scientific future, and for many years, the two methods competed for forensic ascendancy. The only method of Bertillonage still in use today is mug shot.

Laika the Space Dog

 Laika was the first dog sent to space by Soviet Union in 1957. The objective was to test out if living things could survive in space. Four years after Laika's experiment, Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go to space successfully.

Laika was honored, stamp and statue were made after her, and she was immortalized in memory for her contribution to science and space exploration.

 

(Source: sciencephoto.com)

Memorial of Laika, unveiled more than 50 years later (Source: Associated Press/The-Spokesman-Review)

It's all good, right?
Read on.

- Laika, her original name was Kudryavka (Little Curly), called Laika (barker) after she was introduced to the public via radio. Laika was chosen from the street; she was a stray dog and didn't even have a home. They chose stray dogs because they were deemed to be tougher.

- Laika went to space in Sputnik 2, a washing-machine-sized satellite. There were size requirements when Laika, Mushka and Albina were shortlisted. Laika was chosen because she was calmer and more docile.
One of the biggest challenges in bringing a stray dog to home or any indoor setting is, even though their lives on the street are tough, they get used to freedom. Initially, it would be hard for them to be confined indoors, despite having walks, playtime etc.
In addition to being brought indoors, Laika was also purposely confined in cages to 'increase' her adaptation level for the limited space of Sputnik 2. She spent a long time in the cage, confined for up to 20 days, then she was moved to an even smaller cage, repeat. Some dogs even developed constipation, refused to relieve themselves even when they had been fed laxatives. In Sputnik 2, Laika was chained so that she could only sit or lie down; she didn't have enough space to turn around.

- It's a one-way mission; Laika was sent to her death. There was no provision or possibility for her to come back safely. Initially, the plan was to accommodate a possible safe return, but the project was given a deadline and they had to scratch that possibility. Sputnik 2 was required by the leader, Nikita Khrushchev, to go off at the 40th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. According to one of the scientists, all the tradition developed in rocket technology was thrown out; they often worked without a blueprint.

- The day before launch, Laika was brought home by the scientist who had picked her from the street, trained her and chose her to go to space. She experienced a home, something she had never known about before her imminent death. She was three-years-old.

- But Laika was not launched on that day. There was a malfunction, she had to spend three more days inside the spacecraft, in freezing cold temperature, unable to move. The scientist tried to keep her warm by setting up a hose.

- When it was finally launched, Laika was terrified; her heartbeat and breathing speed were recorded as three times higher and four times faster. When she was weightless, she became calmer, but the heart rate never went back to normal.

- Laika died within seven hours in excruciating pain. The temperature control malfunctioned and went past 40 degrees Celcius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). Her heart started to race again and became faster and faster until the scientists couldn't pick it up anymore. She died during her fourth circuit around the earth. Initially, the report was falsified, that Laika survived for nine days and was euthanized humanely by eating poisoned dog food. The truth only came out much later in 2002.

- Her body disintegrated upon entering the earth, five months and 2,570 orbits later. Her body never touched the earth.

- Remember when it was mentioned that Laika's trip was for 'good cause'? Sadly, they didn't learn much from the trip. The trip was more symbolic than scientific. It was done to prove that living things could survive being sent to space and Soviet was the first one to do it. Laika's control dog, Mushka, was sent to space too later with various other animals, and the rocket was detonated because when it malfunctioned and went off trajectory, the Soviet worried that it would fall into enemy territories.

 

 

Toraja Ritual, Where The Dead Are Just Sick

Indonesia is the world's largest island country with over 17.000 islands and consists of over 1300 ethnic groups. The country is so diverse and rich with cultures, each with its own uniqueness. 

Tana Toraja is located in South Sulawesi, one of the big islands in Indonesia. The people are called Toraja or Torajan; the traditional architecture of the home is one of the most famous and easily identified. Besides that, Toraja is also known for its death rituals. 

If one travels to Toraja, most likely the pictures they have in the camera are not about the sceneries, museums, foods but the unique architecture, cemeteries, death rituals, and... the dead. 

So what makes the Toraja death ritual so unique and unusual? 

Toraja people believe that the dead are only unwell or weak. They are not afraid of it; they believe it is merely a step of their journey to the afterlife, the Puya. 

In Toraja, death and funeral are two separate events; funeral can only be held when all the costs are covered. 

The funeral cost is exorbitant; they would need to sacrifice cows, pigs, host multi-day events, feed hundreds of guests, and the list goes on. The cost depends on the status of the deceased, but proportionally, it could easily cost ten to one hundred times their annual salary. It's not a stretch to say that it can take a lifetime for a Torajan to save up for a funeral, so it's a norm that a funeral can be delayed months or years. 

So, during this 'delay,' the deceased stay at home or at the Tongkonan. Tongkonan is Torajan's traditional ancestral house. 

The family goes into daily routine with them; they are given meals and talked to, they are treated just like every other living family member. The Torajans have their way of preserving the dead; they are mummified soon after the death, cleaned and changed regularly, they even 'watch' their favorite TV program. It's not uncommon that a husband or wife 'waits' for the other so that their funerals can be held together; it's also practical for economic reasons.

Tongkonan (Source: Instagram@metrosulawesitours)

RAMBU SOLO

Rambu Solo is the funeral event, 'party,' done as some sort of celebration to respect the dead. Rambu Solo in Torajan language means smoke that goes down. The smoke comes from the offerings, and the ritual is done after 12 noon when the sun starts to go down. 

It's a multi-day event, where cows and pigs are sacrificed. To put it simply, the cost of a cow is equivalent to the cost of a car, and there are different levels of cars and cows. The number of cows sacrificed at Rambu Solo in Toraja depends on the status of the deceased, from a few to hundreds. The family of the deceased could also receive the animals as gifts, expressions of love or compassion; it could also be payback for a deed done in the past. However, if you receive a gift, you should pay it back one day. There are actually recorded as 'cow debt' or 'pig debt' but can be paid by the recipient as and when they can afford it.

The most expensive type of cow is called kerbau belang, based on the unusual pattern of the cow. It could easily cost one billion Indonesian Rupiahs (which is equivalent to over seventy thousand American dollars). These cows are raised like kings; they have their caretakers, eat the freshest grass, are bathed with special treatment and shampoo, walked and protected from mosquito bites.

Source: berakhirpekan.com/kerbau-mahal-Toraja 

There is also a specific way to sacrifice the cows. It has to be done by assigned algojo (executioner), called pa'tinggoro tedong, and the sacrifice process is called ma'tinggoro tedong. Tedong is Toranjan's language for cow. The cows are put in a standing position with neck up and killed with a single stroke. 

Anyone can watch the process, even children. The parang (Indonesian machete) is also specially treated, it should only be used for this purpose, well taken care of, and the handle is decorated with Torajan's carving.

There are quite a number of different segments and types of Rambu Solo, and they are all determined by the status and position in the society. It is a complex multi-day event open to public; guests from everywhere are welcome. They are served food, drink and something that is probably not normal outside Indonesia, cigarettes. The guests also enjoy the feast, entertainment like dancing, singing, and cow fighting. The meats from sacrificed animals are distributed to the poor, and for every animal sacrificed, taxes are collected and used to build public facilities. 

Even though Rambu Solo's cost is exorbitant, it is viewed as respect, sacred ceremony and tradition that Torajans work hard to preserve; it's a culture that strengthens bonds between family and society, and it is also viewed as sharing with the society. Torajans believe without Rambu Solo, misery would fall upon deceased family and affect their journey to reach Puya. 

On the last day of Rambu Solo, the deceased are brought to their final resting place on the cliff, cave or special house for that purpose. Once the coffins are put there, it indicated that the spirits of the deceased have left and are manifested into Tau-tau. Tau means people. Tau-tau means people likeness. Tau-tau are specially made statues to resemble the dead, they are made by specialists who spend the time crafting beside the deceased, and the process can take months. They can only be 'ordered' when death happens. Only those who sacrifice at least 24 cows are permitted to make Tau-tau. The cost is also only affordable by those as it could easily cost twenty-five million Indonesian Rupiahs (equivalent to around eighteen-hundred American dollars).

Tau-tau are placed on the cliff, considered sacred and dressed just like the deceased. The materials of the statues are again, based on the status.

Tau-tau (Source: tribunnewswiki.com)

So, up to this point, is the ritual unique and special enough? Yes or no, there is more. 

MA'NENE FESTIVAL 

Every couple of years, the family of the deceased visit, pray and take the deceased out from the coffin. They are cleaned, changed into fresh clothing and introduced or reunited with the family. 

Ma'nene festival is done every couple of years, around 3-4 years, it is done after harvest season and the timing is decided together by the community. It is treated as reunions and meetings with the ancestor, the family will take pictures with the deceased. After the ritual is done, the deceased are put back into the coffin. Ma'nene festival is regarded as family bonding, that death shouldn't mean the end of relationships, it is also respect for ancestors. Ma'nene is happy event. 

(For pictures, you can google and there are plethora of them, not for the faint-hearted)

The ritual might sound peculiar for outsiders, but there is a background story.

Legend has it that there was a hunter named Pong Rumasek who found a unidentified body. It was in poor condition. Taking pity for it, Pong Rumasek took care of the body and even took off his own clothes and put them on the body; he then moved it to a better resting place. When he reached home, he found that his crops were ready to harvest even though it should take much longer. He was also continued to be blessed. 

From there, the belief that it's kindness to take good care of the death was born.

So, there you have it, the special death ritual of Toraja.

It's Been A While

It's been a while since the last time I was active in blogging. There is a big gap between there and now.

This time, I want to write about anything and everything that fits into the concept of my blog, and detach it from my personal life. 

I am so glad Blogspot is still here, as I was using it back then and it had been great. I hope I'm not too rusty and get the hang of it soon.

Let's go.