This is certainly unsettling if it is something that you are not used to seeing, which in this case is probably most of us. These pictures from Indonesia show the Torajan peoples taking part in the annual Ma'Nene Festival, which is approximately translated as 'The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses Festival'.
During this festival, the bodies of deceased relatives are dug up and put on display. This often involves dressing up the bodies and placing them in poses for the whole village to see and has been going on for many hundreds of years. Some of the deceased are even given cigarettes to hold.
Source: Daily Mail
It is also common within the community for people to believe that the soul of the deceased person remains within their home after they die and, as such, they are not buried for a very long-time. Sometimes for a period of months. During this mourning period, the dead are treated as if they are alive and meals are often also prepared for them.
The annual ceremony allows individuals to reconnect with lost loved ones and to bring the community together in a show of communal mourning. Less gruesome versions of festivals that celebrate the dead exist across the world, including the world-famous 'Day of the Dead' festival that takes place in Mexico each year.
Source: Daily Mail
The Toraja people number around 1 million and live mostly in the South Sulawesi region of Indonesia. While they are protestant Christian, they are still heavily influenced by old tribal religions which has allowed for the continuation of these ancient practices.
While the practice may appear to be macabre, this is among many similar customs that had been practiced historically around the world. In Victorian era United Kingdom for example, it was very common for people to take pictures of their relatives after death and have them publicly displayed in their home. It goes to show that all religions and people deal with death and mourning in their own way, and that these practices go some way to relieving the pain of losing a loved one. After all, if someone did not care about the deceased person, they would hardly go to the great difficulty of hosting such festivities.
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