A man in the remote highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia, moves the skulls of his grandparents from their tomb to a newly built mausoleum near his village.
During the ma’nene ritual – which takes place each August in the Tana Toraja region – bodies of dead ancestors are exhumed to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
Torajans believe that family members continue to watch over them from the afterlife, and are responsible for successful crops.
Ma’nene is staged to show gratitude, and human remains in rundown graves are often rehoused so that the dead have a comfortable place to rest.
The ritual is only staged in remote communities in northern Toraja, and getting to them is an adventure in itself.
Although the atmosphere at a ma’nene ritual is sombre, the families of the deceased are genuinely happy to see their lost loved ones.
They’re also delighted when respectful foreign visitors take an interest in this macabre ritual.
