But rituals can be mixed in with Christian practice, often in a fantastic way. For example, at The Feast of the Dead people attend church and afterwards buffalo are sacrificed. Tourism has developed rapidly in recent years with package tours coming from France, Italy, and other countries. Tourists are mainly interested in seeing the lavish funerals and the government is encouraging the Torajans to spread the funerals through the year so that more tourists come. The government is trying to reduce the number of sacrifices at funerals by charging a local tax for animals killed past a certain number.
Symbols of fertility are very significant in the religion despite the efforts of the missionaries.
Most important is the buffalo, which the Torajans worship as a fertility cult figure. In dances headdresses of buffalo horn or symbolic horns are worn. At the Mabua ceremony held every twelve years, priests with buffalo headdresses dance around a sacred tree. In the Manganda dance a group of men wear huge headdresses of bulls' horns and silver coins. Eels are also revered as fertility symbols.