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| A screenshot of a Torajan families with their dead relatives (video below) |
August 12, 2015, NewsCrunch
Indonesia’s Torajan people, who live in the island of Sulawesi, bring out their dead every August on the festival of Ma'nene.
Ma'nene translates into the 'the Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses'.
On this day, the mummified corpses are brought out, dressed up in their favourite attire that may include sun glasses, and groomed elaborately. The mummies are then paraded around the village.
There are various myths that explain the unique Torajan practice, states Daily Mail.But the key seems to be their belief that the festival of Ma'nene invokes the blessings of the departed.
Torajan have converted to either Islam or Christianty, but retain many of their animistic practices.
They have a unique burial practice. Their dead are not put in earth but placed in caves, which are carved into nearby mountains. Dead babies are placed inside the hollow space in the trunk of a growing tree.
Their elaborate burial rituals may also hold the key to the mummification of the bodies.