Tongkonan is the traditional ancestral house, or rumah adat, of the Torajan people in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

It is an island abundant in natural resources with a rich and varied array of cultures, including some of the most distinctive and anthropologically significant in Indonesia.

Like many Indonesian ethnic groups, the Toraja were head-hunters and participants in inter-village raids; villages were thus located strategically on hill tops and were heavily fortified.

The Dutch colonialists pacified the Toraja and led them to build their villages in valleys and changed their agriculture from a slash and burn variety to wet-rice cultivation, and pig and buffalo raising.

Many of these native practices remain including animal sacrifices, ostentatious funeral rites and huge communal feasts.

The second type is tongkonan pekamberan, which belongs to the family group members, who have some authorities in local traditions (known as adat).

Although built on a log cabin-style sub-structure, tongkonan are set on large vertical wooden piles with mortises cut into their ends to grasp the horizontal tie beams.

The distinctive curved roof shape is obtained through a series of vertical hanging spars supporting upwardly angled beams.

Bamboo staves bound with rattan are assembled transversely in layers and tied longitudinally to the rafters forming the roof.

[3] The tongkonan at Ke'te' Kesu' is reputed to be 500 years old; too old to trace a direct descendant from the founder to maintain the title that goes with the house.

The buildings themselves, however, are constantly maintained and renewed, thus this age refers to the length of time years for which that particular site has been used as a meeting place.

If divorced, possession of the house is granted to the wife, although the husband may be compensated by being given the rice barn which can be dismantled and reassembled.

The tongkonan is traditionally seen as the navel of the universe and a miniature cosmos; and in those some regions, it is the meeting place of the north-south and east-west axes.

The tongkonan is vertically divided into three levels: the attic where the regalia and family heirlooms are kept; the living area; and the space under the floor where domesticated animals are kept.

Customarily people would assemble to sit in a place of historical significance to discuss and resolve matters of communal import.

Ordinary residences, known as banua are smaller, less decorated homes versions of tongkonan, through which families’ descent would also be traced.

These homes may also be converted into tongkonan after several generations of the same line have lived in them and after suitable rites have been carried out, but due to prohibitive costs, this has traditionally been rare.

Gables and the outside walls of tongkonan are often decorated by red, black, and yellow colored wood, with patterns carved into it.

Buffalo horns hung in a vertical array on the front gable are a sign of prestige and are customarily used to signify the wealth of the household.

Although still commanding great prestige in a ritual sense, the tongkonan, like many traditional Indonesian housing styles, has a small, dark and smoky interior, and consequently is losing favour amongst contemporary Torajans.

An approach more in line with tradition is to add an extra storey and a saddleback roof which fulfils contemporary expectations of space and brightness, while maintaining the prestige of a tongkonan.

Tongkonan are a viable part of the market for managed tourism, their seminal value drawing enough people to make Tana Toraja one of Indonesia's most significant destinations for international tourists; a region particularly popular with European visitors.