In Famadihana, Madagascar, a sacred ritual unearths the dead | CNN
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In Madagascar’s central highlands, the Merina tribe exhumes the remains of their ancestors and even dances with them in a sacred ritual.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/80006

In this sacred ritual, which occurs every five to seven years, a number of deceased relatives are removed from an ancestral crypt. Living family members carefully peel the burial garments off the corpses and wrap them in fresh silk shrouds.

The festivities begin and guests drink, converse, and dance with their forebears.

“We wrap the bodies and dance with the corpses while they decompose,” says anthropologist Dr Miora Mamphionona.

Just before the sun sets, the bodies are carefully returned to the tomb and turned upside down. The crypt is then closed for the next five to seven years.