Indonesia Cemeteries

Asia Indonesia

Cemetery records often give more information than church burial records and may include the deceased’s name, age, date of death or burial, birth year or date of birth, and sometimes marriage information. They may also provide clues about an ancestor’s military service, religion, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization. Cemetery records are especially helpful for identifying ancestors who were not recorded in other records, such as children who died young or women.

Information recorded on tombstones is of primary importance. Often, this information has been transcribed, indexed, and published and is found in manuscripts and books in libraries and archives.

Cemetery records (Kuburan)
Research use: Death information in other records is often meager. Used to distinguish adults and surviving children in parish registers, other family relationships. Chinese and other non-Christian cemeteries are particularly valuable due to a dearth of other records.

Record type: Lists of gravestone burial records, exhumations, sextons records, obituaries.

Time Period: 1600-present.

Content: Name, age, death and burial date and place, birth date and place, sometimes relatives.

Location: District and municipal archives, church archives, Chinese community associations, cemetery offices.

Population coverage: 20%.

Reliability: Good.

Burial Traditions
Batak societies in Indonesia are patriarchal organized along clans known as Marga. The Toba Batak believe that they originate from one ancestor "Si Raja Batak," with all Margas, descended from him. A family tree that defines the father-son relationship among Batak people is called tarombo. Toba Batak are known traditionally for their weaving, wood carving and especially ornate stone tombs. Their burial and marriage traditions are very rich and complex. The burial tradition includes a ceremony in which the bones of one's ancestors are re-interred several years after death. This secondary burial is known among the Toba Batak as (mangongkal holi).

Research Tools
Cemeteries in Indonesia (Wikipedia)

Toraja graves

Family History Library Collection
The Family History Library has several cemeteries related to Indonesia. Go to Place Search and type in:

INDONESIA - CEMETERIES