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5.00 am: at dawn the party officially starts and people from other villages and from bigger towns begin to come. Celebrations will last for the next 8 days.
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Relatives from all over Madagascar gathered in front of the brand new tomb waiting for the first corpses to come.
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The Malagasy believe that, when ancestors are taken out of the tomb, they are in strong communion with their viving descendants.
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Women clean the grains of rice from the sand: the family which organized the party has to provide food for all the incoming guests.
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Traditionally children can't enter inside the tomb, the malagasy people believe that this would bring a curse to the younger generation.
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The familiar graves are bigger than they appear from the outside: a tomb usually has two floors in height and one more level underground.
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Each tomb can host more than 200 bodies, the most ancients of them date back to the late XIX century.
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Every corpse has his own name written on the shroud, and an arrow indicates where the head is, so that the relatives can speak to him directly.
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One of the most popular proverbs concerning famadihana and domestic unity says: "alive, we live togheter in the same house. Dead, we live togheter in the same tomb".
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For 8 days before the famadihana starts, the living and the dead sleep under the same roof, in the same house. "Let me introduce you my father!", R. said.
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People start moving from the countryside before the sunrise to get to the village on time for the famadihana ceremony to begin.
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A child said: "when we take out the corpses we are glad, because we haven't seen them for a long time".
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Despite the chaotic dances and the alcoholic inebriation, the dancing with the ancestor is a extremely intimate moment of communion between the living and the dead.
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The Malagasy wrap their deads as a sign of respect: the more shrouds a corpse gets, the more he prove to be loved from his descendants.
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During the ceremony a large amount of beers and toaka gasy (handmade rhum) are consumed by the guests.
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A child sharpening two long knives: before a new tomb is inaugurated, the spirits of the ancestors require a blood sacrifice.
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The weight of the head of a zebù is around 66 lb. The strongest young men bring it to the village where the horns will be carved for ornamental purpose.
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Nene dancing with the body of her relatives. A popoular proverb in Madagascar says: "we cry for a fresh corpse, but we dance for an old one".
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An important part of the famadihana ritual is the banquet where all the relatives eat toghether rice and the meat of the sacrifical cows.
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For several days before the famadihana starts, the living and the dead rest under the same roof, drinking and singing all night long.