Ever imagined what it would look like to see the exhumed body of a dear one after years of committing them to mother earth? It sends chills down the spines.
But the folks in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia have quite a different view.
They actually exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes.
They do it for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses.
During the ceremony the dead are washed, groomed, and dressed in new clothes and the coffins repaired according to reports.
These locals have easy access to the corpses because instead of burying them six feet below, they are placed in a cave or carved stone grave.
This much revered ritual originated from the belief that the spirit of a dead person must return to their villages.
Some people parade the bodies of their loved ones around the province along straight lines.
Even the bodies of children are dug up and redressed during the ceremony.
People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)People in Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia exhume the decaying remains of loved ones occasionally to clean their corpses, repair their coffin, and dress them in new clothes for a ritual called Ma’nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. (Photo Credit: Sijori Images/Barcroft India)
