Turning of the bones - a podcast by BBC World Service

To celebrate the lives of loved ones after they have passed away is nothing new. Many communities cling to memories, stories and anything else that makes them feel as close as possible to those who have died.

For the Malagasy people, an Austronesian ethnic group native to the island country of Madagascar, this desire to remain close to lost loved ones is viewed in a more literal sense with a funerary tradition known as Famadihana - the turning of the bones.

With the belief that the spirits of the dead only finally join the world of the ancestors after the body's complete decomposition, this ceremony involves exhuming the bodies of loved ones, replacing the silk cloth wrapped around them, and celebrating their lives as they are once again laid to rest.
Volana Razafimanatsoa explores the shifting spiritual landscape amongst the Malagasy people in the 21st Century, joining a family celebrating their loved ones and discovering what the future holds for one of their most cherished traditions.

(Photo: Isabel Malala Razafindrakoto carries the wrapped body of her son, who died aged three, as she takes part in a funerary tradition called the Famadihana. Credit: Rijasolo/AFP/Getty Images)

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