"Pasar tradisional merupakan tempat terjadinya aktivitas ekonomi lokal berupa kegiatan jual bei antara pedagang dan pembeli. Di dalam aktivitas jual beli ini, terbentuklah interaksi yang kompleks, baik melalui kegiatan tawar menawar antara pembeli dan pedagang maupun persaingan antarpedagang sebagai wujud unsur sosial budaya. Akibatnya, pasar tradisional tidak pernah lepas dari unsur ekonomi lokal dan sosial budaya yang mengitarinya.
Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan keterkaitan antara pasar tradisional Bolu di Toraja Utara dan ritual kematian orang Toraja. Ritual kematian orang Toraja, Rambu Solo, adalah salah satu ritual terpenting dalam kebudayaan orang Toraja. Rambu Solo dilaksanakan sesuai dengan kelas sosial dan didorong oleh budaya siri. Setiap kelas sosial dibedakan berdasarkan lama pelaksanaan ritual, tingkat kerumitan, dan jumlah hewan kurban yang disembelih, khususnya kerbau. Semakin tinggi kasta sosial orang yang meninggal, ritual Rambu Solo yang dilaksanakan akan semakin rumit, menghabiskan semakin banyak waktu dan kerbau. Kehadiran Pasar Hewan Bolu sangat membantu masyarakat Toraja dalam memperoleh kerbau.
Mengakhiri rangkaian studi literatur, wawancara, dan studi lapangan yang dilakukan selama menyusun tulisan ini, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa Pasar Hewan Bolu dapat dipandang sebagai pasar yang memenuhi kebutuhan orang mati, yakni kebutuhan ritual Rambu Solo. Oleh karena itu, selama orang Toraja bertahan untuk tetep melaksanakan ritual kematian Rambu Solo, maka kehadiran Pasar Hewan Bolu tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kehidupan berbudaya masyarakat Toraja.
A traditional market is where local economy activities, mainly the process of selling and buying, take place. In this activity of selling and buying, a complex interactions are formed, firstly through the bargainnning between the buyers and traders, secondly through the competition among the traders, both as manifests of the local economical and socio-cultural elements. Hence, a traditional market could never be detached from its surrounding local economy and socio-cultural elements.This thesis aims to explain the relationship between Bolu Animal Market, a traditional market in North Toraja, and Rambu Solo, the funeral ceremony of Toraja people. Rambu Solo is one of the most significant rituals in the culture of Toraja. It is observed based on social class and driven by the siri culture. Each social class is distinguished by the duration and complexity of the ritual, also by the number of sacrificial animals slaugthered, especially bufallo. The higher the social caste of the Toraja people who died, the more complicated the ritual will be carried out, spending more in both time and bufallo. Bufallo has become a key element in this ritual. The existence of Bolu Animal Market is an immense help for the Toraja people to obtain bufallo.Hence, closing the series of literature study, interview, and field study along with this thesis writing, the author concludes that Bolu Animal Market can be seen as a market that meets the needs of the dead, as it provides the main requirement of Rambu Solo. As long as the people of Toraja keep observing the ritual of Rambu Solo, the presence of Bolu Animal Market can not be separated from their cultural life."
