Indonesian villagers dig up corpses and clean them in afterlife ritual

Two small towns on Indonesia's Sulawesi island are celebrating a days-long ceremony called the Manene where they honour the spirits of the dead. Hundreds of corpses are pulled out and dressed in the village of Torea as part of the ritual.

"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. "Then, we would dry the bodies under the sun before [we] change their clothes," he said.

Coffins holding the preserved bodies of their loved ones are pulled from a burial cave carved into the mountainside.

"The offerings are a symbol of gratitude from the children and grandchildren to the departed ones," Torea village head Rahman Badus told AFP.

The ceremony is held so that the spirits "can always bless the living with safety, peace and happiness," he said.

One family offered their freshly exhumed relative a cigarette, while another affixed a pair of stylish sunglasses. A few of the bodies remain relatively intact from the mummification process while others have deteriorated to skeleton remains.

Torajans are an ethnic group and about a million of them reside on the Sulawesi island. They all seem fine about talking with an embalmed corpse, dressing them up, brushing their hair or even taking pictures with a mummified relative.

The Manene is usually held every few years in July or August.

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.

The families preserve the body until they are able to save enough money for an elaborate funeral.

An embalming process using natural remedies such as sour vinegar and tea leaves was earlier used to preserve the bodies. But now, most families simply inject a formaldehyde solution into the corpse.

While the sight is sure to scare onlooking Western tourists, residents are more than happy to clean out the bodies, take pictures and pray for their souls.

But the village chief says some locals have gone too far.

"The bodies must be treated with the utmost respect in the Manene ritual," Badus said. "Relatives are paying respect to their parents or ancestors and disrespect has consequences."