Tolotang

The Bugis of South Sulawesi kept Tolotang, a pre-Islamic belief, above all around Amparita. Its followers honour a single god, Dewata SeuwaE, titled PatotoE, the one who determines fate, and some sources name La Panaungi as the founder.

Worship was directed at stones, wells and the graves of ancestors, and the Lontara manuscripts served as scripture. Rites were led by priests called Uwa, of whom the Uwatta, a descendant of the founder, officiated at weddings. Yearly the community gathered in the Sipulung at the tomb of I Pabbere, bringing rice and side dishes as provisions for the afterlife.

The Bugis kingdoms turned to Islam in the early seventeenth century. Part of the Tolotang community accepted it and became known as the Benteng, while the Towani Tolotang held to the old rites.