REAL WALKING DEAD villagers dig up their ancestors dress them in new clothes in ancient ritual

• the Ma’nene Festival in Indonesia where bodies of dead relatives are dug up and dressed up
• The ritual has been going for more than a century and is celebrated by the Torajan people in Indonesia
• Relatives parade decomposing bodies dressed in new clothes and pose for photos with the corpses
• The festival’s name means ‘The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses’
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• he Torajan people of Indonesia proudly display their dead relatives after digging them up and dressing them in new clothes in an ancient ritual that is meant to show respect for their late loved ones.

  Every three years, the tribe from Sulawesi island exhume their dead, who they wash and dress in fresh clothes and then pose for family photographs in a festival known as Ma’nene.

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  The ritual, which translates as ‘The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses,’ has been going for more than a century.

  The Torajan people of Indonesia proudly display their dead relatives after digging them up and dressing them in new clothes in an ancient ritual that is meant to show respect for their late loved ones.

  Every three years, the tribe from Sulawesi island exhume their dead, who they wash and dress in fresh clothes and then pose for family photographs in a festival known as Ma’nene.

  The ritual, which translates as ‘The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses,’ has been going for more than a century.

  One of the most important events in the lives of the Torajan people, an ethnic group indigenous to the mountainous region of Tana Toraja, is the funeral.

  Most save money their entire lives so they can have a respectable burial for themselves or family members. 

  In some cases the deceased’s funeral is held several weeks or even years after their death so the family have can have time to save up and pay for an extravagant funeral.

  But the funeral is never the last time their relative’s body is seen. Whenever an elderly villager dies, their body is wrapped in several layers of cloth to prevent decay.

  Then, they are dug up every three years, admired by loved ones and dressed in different clothing.