What do they celebrate?
There are tons of festivals celebrated in Madagascar. One festival is the dry bones ritual. The dry bones ritual is a traditional event dedicated to ancestors. It has been practiced in Madagascar for centuries, resisting modern changes. During this event, people remove corpses from their tombs and re-wrapped in new shrouds. It is believed when the deceased are re-wrapped it keeps them from feeling cold in their resting place. This is a joyful occasion with no tears allowed. Any ‘sensitive’ people are not to look at the exposed corpses. Crying at a dry bones event is seen as a rejection of blessings from the ancestors. Before the corpses are put back into their burial places they are carried several times around the tomb. This is believed to make the souls of the departed familiar with their eternal residence, otherwise there are beliefs that they may roam and haunt the villagers afterwards. This time is also to reunite with deceased family members which are then put into a family tomb. It is believed that being buried separately is terrible fate. Families are can also be grouped by gender, such as fathers, brothers, and/or sons; or mothers, sisters, and/or daughters.