This paper examines the musical performance of mangongkal holi, the ancestral bone-exhumation ritual of the Toba Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia, with particular attention to the role of gondang sabangunan music and tortor dance in mediating memory, cosmology, and social identity. Drawing on hybrid ethnographic fieldwork in Sianjur Mulamula—including audiovisual documentation, musical transcription, and ritual theory, I argue that gondang functions not merely as ritual accompaniment but as a powerful musical compendium that structure ritual processions, sustains kinship and social relationships (dalihan na tolu), and facilitates communication between the human and ancestral realms.

Engaging prior scholarship on Toba Batak ritual music, including Artur Simon (1982), Okazaki (1994), and Mauly Purba (2000, 2004), among others, alongside broader ethnomusicological discussions of music rituals in Southeast Asia, the paper situates mangongkal holi within a dynamic continuum of continuity and transformation. Particular attention is given to the leader pargonsi (musicians), Aliman Tua Limbong, and the negotiation of indigenous cosmology with Christian influences and contemporary social realities. By foregrounding music as a central ritual ceremony, this study demonstrates how ritual music sustains ancestral presence, negotiates cultural resilience, and articulates indigenous identity amid historical and modern pressures.