Villagers Dig Up Dead Bodies of Relatives, Wash and Take Them for a Walk (Photos)

An Indonesian tribe has held a festival of the walking dead in which they dig up the corpses of their relatives and friends.

They then wash, groom and dress them up before walking with them for good harvest.

Every year, families in Toraja in the highlands of South Sulawesi, exhume the bodies of their dead relatives and friends to reunite with them in an annual celebration called Ma’nene.

Even the bodies of babies and children are dug up to celebrate the ritual that last for three days.

The families open the coffins and let the bodies dry for sometime.

After that, they wash, groom and dress up the mummies in new fancy clothes and take them for a walk through the village in straight lines in much zombie-like fashion.

All this is done while smiling from ear-to-ear because crying and mourning is prohibited.

‘It is our way of respecting the dead. There is no mourning. It is a moment of joy for us because we reunite with our dead relatives.
‘We try to honour them and in return get their blessings for good harvest,’ said one of the villagers.

After the walk, the villagers sacrifice buffaloes and pigs as an offering for the dead’s free walk to heaven.

The bizarre tradition had started centuries ago when an animal hunter had found a decaying corpse but dressed him in his shirt and gave him a proper burial. He believed after the burial he was blessed with good fortune.

The Trojan people adapted the story and started celebrating the death of their deceased.

-Metro UK