Bugis

The Bugis , or Ugi' in language bugis, are people of the province Indonesia of Southern Sulawesi in the island of Célèbes.

The language bugis belongs to the group known as " Sulawesi en" Austronesian branch of the Languages austronésiennes.

Culture and religion

In Indonesia, Bugis have the reputation to be among the most enthusiastic Moslems. They converted with Islam starting from the beginning of the XVIIe century. Nevertheless, like elsewhere in Indonesia, they continue to adhere to beliefs and to observe rites belonging to their traditional religion.

Bugis hold for crowned the epopee Galigo, which is at the same time an account of creation, a collection of rites and a code of conduct for the kings.

The royal rites can be carried out only by a Bissu , i.e. beings which are neither man nor woman, but in practice, of the transvestites. Only a bissu can indeed be the intermediary between the men and the gods.

The rites of the daily life, like the inauguration of a new house or a new boat, the rites of passage, the festivals marking the stages of the life, the phases of the cycle of rice, are carried out by a sanro .

Moslems, Bugis recognize that there is one God, whether they name Puang Allataala or Dewata Seuwae. In the sides of God, Bugis believe that there are all kinds of other spirits or dewata (word of origin Sanscrit E which means " divinité") which it should be paid homage so that they want to intercede well for the men near the supreme being.

One of these spirits is Sawerigading, the hero whose adventures are told in Galigo.

Bugis venerate Sangiang Serri, the goddess of rice (known more generally in Indonesia under the name of Dewi Sri), than Galigo tells to being the first terrestrial child of Batara Guru, wire Datu Patoto, the supreme divinity. Sangiang Serri dies at the end of seven days, is buried then reappears in the shape of rice.

The to tenrita are invisible spirits which play the part of intermediaries between the men and the gods. Among them appear the guards spirits of the houses and the boats and the spirits which haibtent the trees, the stones and the sources.

The majority of the rites of the traditional religion bugis are not observed any more. In particular, the funeral follows from now on the Moslem rite. The activity of the bissu is limited more and more. But the crowned places kept their importance, in particular tombs which are places of pilgrimage and the object of a worship of the ancestors. This worship also results in offerings with the ancestors into a reserved place of the house. Lastly, the epopee of Galigo continues to be at the time of ceremonies.

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