Weird Indonesian tribe lives with dead relatives

The Toraja community from Indonesia mummify the bodies of the deceased and care for their preserved bodies as though they are still living.

The Toroja tribe from Indonesia believes that after death the soul remains in the house so the dead are treated to food, clothing, water, cigarettes.

Their skin and flesh are preserved from decomposing by a coating of formaldehyde and water. The family store dried plants beside the body to mask the odour of the bodies.

For the Indoneisan community, a well-preserved body brings good fortune so families go to great lengths to ensure those who have died remain in the best possible shape. Torajans learn from a very young age to deal with death and to accept it as part of the journey.

Many people in the village say the delayed burial helps the grieving process.

Even after the dead have been buried in a mausoleum or stone grave, it won’t be the last time their relatives will come face-to-face with their bodies.

In a ritual known as Ma’nene – which means “care for ancestors” and traditionally takes place in August – the dead are brought out from their graves, taken out of their coffins, washed of insects and dirt, given new clothes and brought down to the village.

In this photo below, relatives clean Martha Rantelimbong, who passed away two years ago.

Another picture shows Todeng, who died in 2009. His young relative Sam lights him a cigarette and changes his glasses while he is enjoying sunbathing.

To the modern world, this intimacy between the living and the dead may seem perverse. In contrast, abandoning the elders, the sheer number of retirement homes and outsourced tomb care would shock the Torajans.

It is thought that these Torajan death rites first began in 9 AD.

These days tourists in Indonesia also mingle with locals as the Ma’nene rituals take place.