Indonesian villagers clean up dead bodies in an afterlife ritual.

On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in the Toraja region, people celebrate a multi-day ceremony called Manene.

Hundreds of corpses are removed and dressed as part of the ritual to honor the spirits and make offerings.

The coffins containing the preserved bodies of their loved ones are brought out of a burial cave carved into the side of a mountain.

The Torajans believe that the spirits of the dead linger in the world before the funeral ceremonies and that they begin their journey to the spirit land after the immortalisation of their soul.

Families keep the body until they have saved enough money for an elaborate funeral.

The burial is a shocking and gruesome scene for Western tourists, but the locals are more than happy to clean the bodies, take pictures and pray for their souls.