Covering the dead in a new shroud before the tomb is sealed at the end of a reburial ceremony in Madagascar

The final part of a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, Madagascar. When the dead have been restored to their resting place, their closest relatives go down to talk to them and bid a final farewell. Then they are covered in a new shroud and the tomb is sealed. 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: 5110.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2005 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5727x3798 / 11.9MB; Africa African ethnicity Ancestor worship Belaveno Bezanozano ethnicity Death Rite Four People Life Cycle Ritual Madagascan ethnicity Madagascar People Rite de Passage Rite of Passage burial chamber corpse dead body death ritual faith famadihana grave indoors middle-aged man reburial religion shroud tomb
Contained in galleries: Reburying the dead, Madagascar

The final part of a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, Madagascar. When the dead have been restored to their resting place, their closest relatives go down to talk to them and bid a final farewell. Then they are covered in a new shroud and the tomb is sealed. 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.