Madagascar's Famadihana is a local tradition also known as the "Carnival of the Dead". This festival is usually held between June and September and lasts for several days each year. During the Turnover Festival, people remove the bodies of their deceased loved ones from their graves, repackage them, and dance, sing and drink.
The origins of this festival can be traced back to the traditional beliefs of some tribes in Madagascar. These tribes believe that death is not the end, but a mental and physical transition of a person. Therefore, commemorate the deceased loved ones through the Day of Turning the Dead and hope that their spirit will return to the family and continue to bless them.
During the festival, relatives open the coffin in the grave, remove the body, and repackage it with cloth. Relatives would then carry the body on their shoulders and dance around the cemetery, some would even jump and run around the body. People would sing, dance, play musical instruments and drink until the body was returned to the grave again.
Although the festival is considered an important part of Malagasy culture, some criticize the festival as disrespectful to death and hinder the resting of corpses. In addition, the carnage festival also has some safety risks. Over the past few years, there have been reports of accidents and theft of bodies during the Turnover Festival.
In conclusion, the festival of corpse turning in Madagascar is a traditional custom closely related to life and death. Although it looks very unusual from the outside, the festival is an important cultural tradition for some tribes in Madagascar.
Mummy weddings in India, also known as "parikala", are an ancient Hindu tradition that usually takes place when two mummies get married. In this type of wedding, two mummies are placed together, tied together with a rope, and then a symbolic wedding ceremony is performed.
It is believed that the tradition originated in an ancient legend in South India about a pair of cursed lovers who were mummified after death. In order for them to achieve eternal happiness, the local people began to perform this ritual, putting them together to symbolize that their love would last forever.
In mummy weddings, some of the ceremonies include dressing the mummy in gorgeous wedding costumes, spraying perfume and cigarettes, and even giving them wedding ceremonies, including exchanging wedding rings, performing a seven-step wedding ceremony, and a ceremony that unites the mummies together. In addition, there are traditional activities such as singing, dancing and eating.
Although this tradition has been around for a long time in southern India, in recent years, with social changes and increased cultural exchanges, the tradition has begun to fade and is only maintained in certain places and communities.
