Checking the remains of the dead inside a grave during a reburial ceremony in Madagascar

The male members of a family check the remains of the dead inside a grave opened for a reburial ceremony in the highlands south of the capital of Antananarivo, Madagascar. The famadihana, the Madagascan reburial ceremony, is a custom in the highlands of Madagascar. The purpose of the ritual is to induce the ancestors to impart their blessings to their descendants, as without those blessings one cannot have a good life. The famadihana is held during the cooler half of the year, when the dead are said to be freezing in their graves and therefore need new clothing.

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Filename: 5114.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2005 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5732x3759 / 14.4MB; Africa African ethnicity Ancestor worship Death Rite Four People Life Cycle Ritual Madagascan ethnicity Madagascar Men Merina ethnicity People Rite de Passage Rite of Passage candle corpse dead body death ritual faith famadihana grave indoors middle-aged man reburial religion shroud tomb
Contained in galleries: Reburying the dead, Madagascar

The male members of a family check the remains of the dead inside a grave opened for a reburial ceremony in the highlands south of the capital of Antananarivo, Madagascar. The famadihana, the Madagascan reburial ceremony, is a custom in the highlands of Madagascar. The purpose of the ritual is to induce the ancestors to impart their blessings to their descendants, as without those blessings one cannot have a good life. The famadihana is held during the cooler half of the year, when the dead are said to be freezing in their graves and therefore need new clothing.