Wrapping the remains of the dead in new shrouds during a reburial ceremony in Madagascar

The male members of the family enter the grave and wrap the remains of the dead in new shrouds during a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, 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: 5101.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2005 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5725x3803 / 17.6MB; Africa African ethnicity Ancestor worship Belaveno Bezanozano ethnicity Death Rite Life Cycle Ritual Madagascan ethnicity Madagascar Men Rite de Passage Rite of Passage Three People burial chamber corpse dead body death ritual faith famadihana indoors middle-aged man reburial religion shroud
Contained in galleries: Reburying the dead, Madagascar

The male members of the family enter the grave and wrap the remains of the dead in new shrouds during a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, 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.