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The Ma’nene culture of Indonesia where they dig up the dead from their grave to celebrate them yearly

Ok, It is true that letting go of a loved ones can be truly almost impossible especially when death takes them away physically. But what can you do when Death is a natural phenomenon?

However, this does not really apply to the small island of the Toraja people of indonesia who practice the ma’nene ritual, which is the digging up of their dead ones from their graves and celebrating them once in a year. There are fascinating photos of families and their dead one which shows the depth at which they keep their cultural practices.

Before their dead ones are buried at first, most times their bodies are kept for weeks, months, or even years depending on how rich the families are. So the richest of families keep the bodies of their dead ones for years, which they clean, feed and clothe them continually until they are buried, but only to be dug out again once in every year. Sounds weird right? So they are dug out to be cleaned, redressed, fed, and new coffins are made for them. They are actually kept at a place called the house of death, but that is during their death before the first burial which takes weeks, months, or years.

Although Indonesia is known to be a Muslim country, but the Toraja people are mostly Christians. Which does not stop them from practicing the ma’nene culture, even though the church has tried to stop them from engaging in such rituals.

Here are some pictures from the Ma’nene rituals of digging up the dead.

A family taking their dead out of the coffin
A family getting their dead one dressed
A man holding the dug out corpse of his little one
Assumably the mummy with the longest hair in Toraja, being presented by her relative.
A family member, perhaps a grandson, gently combs the hair of his departed ancestor.
Family standing with their already dressed deceased

So what do you think about this culture?

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