The Ma’nene festival, celebrated every three years by the Torajan people of Indonesia has got to be one of the creepiest things I have ever seen. The Torajan people honor their ancestors by digging them up every three years, washing and cleansing the bodies and putting new clothes on them, then putting them on display until the festival is over and they rebury them. The translated name of the ceremony is “The Cleansing of the Corpses”.
People of the tribe save money their entire lives so that they can have a big funeral when they die. The funeral is considered the social apex of their lives. I don’t mind saying, I’m glad I wasn’t born there.
Another important element of the Ma’nene festival is replacing and repairing the coffins to stop bodies from decomposing.
The Torajan people live high in the mountains of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The area is so remote that many of the villages were completely autonomous until the 1970s, when the area was exposed to the outside world by Dutch missionaries.
The villagers are encouraged to marry within their family – but only beyond the fourth cousin.
In the Torajan belief system, death is not a final step, but just one step in an ongoing spiritual life.
https://youtu.be/z-AQ-D4TdyU