"Relatives are paying respect to their parents or ancestors and disrespect has consequences. Credit: Adobe Stock - donnchans It is hard to imagine the Hobbit may still be hiding somewhere in Indonesia, but according to Gregory Forth, an anthropology Professor at the University of Alberta scientists may have overlooked Indigenous knowledge and accounts of. "The bodies must be treated with the utmost respect in the Manene ritual," Badus said. Landscape view from the top of Padar island in Komodo islands, Flores, Indonesia.
The disinterring is a shocking and gruesome scene for onlooking Western tourists, yet residents are more than happy to clean out the bodies, take pictures and pray for their souls.īut the village chief says some locals have gone too far. The deceased were previously mummified through an embalming process using natural remedies such as sour vinegar and tea leaves.īut many families now take the shortcut of injecting a formaldehyde solution into the corpse. The families will preserve the body until they have saved enough money for an elaborate funeral. The Torajans believe spirits of the dead will linger in the world before their funeral ceremonies and will begin their journey to the land of spirits after their souls are immortalised. They have few qualms when it comes to talking with an embalmed corpse, dressing them up, brushing their hair or even taking pictures with a mummified relative.ĭepending on the village, the Manene is usually held every few years in July or August. Torajans are an ethnic group that numbers about a million people on Sulawesi island. One family offered their freshly exhumed relative a cigarette, while another affixed a pair of stylish sunglasses.Ī few of the bodies remain relatively intact from the mummification process while others have deteriorated to skeleton remains. They honour their spirits "so they can always bless the living with safety, peace and happiness," he said. "The offerings are a symbol of gratitude from the children and grandchildren to the departed ones," Torea village head Rahman Badus told AFP.
"Then, we would dry the bodies under the sun before change their clothes," he said.Ĭoffins holding the preserved bodies of their loved ones are pulled from a burial cave carved into the mountainside. "When we do Manene, we would start by opening the grave chamber and cleaning it and its surrounding area," one of the family members, Sulle Tosae, told AFP. Hundreds of corpses are pulled out and dressed in the village of Torea as part of the ritual to honour their spirits and provide offerings. In two small towns on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, residents are celebrating a days-long ceremony called the Manene. An Indonesian family poses with a dead relative as part of a ritual celebration of the afterlifeĪ family on an Indonesian island poses for a photo with an elderly relative no longer able to smile, while another clan tries to dress one of their eldest forebears in khakis and a shirt.īut the eldest generation isn't stuck in a retirement home or harbouring a grudge against their younger kin - they are dead.
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