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It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. But often, their funeral isn’t the last time the dead are seen. In August, crypts are opened, coffins are slid back out and bodies delicately unsheathed. This tender ritual is known as Ma’Nene, which is customarily performed every few years. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)

It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)
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06 Oct 2016 09:15:00
In this Monday, April 27, 2015 photo, a Nepalese man walks over fallen rocks and past a crushed car on the way to Dhunche, Nepal, a village in Langtang National Park, two days after a 7.8-magnatude earthquake hit the region. (Photo by Joe Sieder via AP Photo)

In this Monday, April 27, 2015 photo, a Nepalese man walks over fallen rocks and past a crushed car on the way to Dhunche, Nepal, a village in Langtang National Park, two days after a 7.8-magnatude earthquake hit the region. The photographer, Joe Sieder, said the man was part of a group of Nepalese workers and trekkers who left Syabrubesi earlier that day and hiked about 30 km (19 miles) for 13 hours, mostly over boulder-strewn roads with some small landslides along the way to make their way to a passable road. (Photo by Joe Sieder via AP Photo)
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30 Apr 2015 10:54:00
A patient buried in the hot sand looks out from under a shade that protects his face from the sun in Siwa, Egypt, August 12, 2015. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

A patient buried in the hot sand looks out from under a shade that protects his face from the sun in Siwa, Egypt, August 12, 2015. In the searing heat of summer in western Egypt, at the hottest time of the day, sufferers of rheumatism, joint pain, infertility or impotence lie buried neck-deep in the sand of Siwa near Dakrour Mountain. Locals say taking a sand bath is a natural therapy with powers to cure many medical conditions. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)
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28 Aug 2015 12:07:00
13-year-old Emmanuel Festo from Tanzania poses for a portrait with a plush toy that he says makes him feel safe at night and that he sleeps with, in New York's Staten Island, September 21, 2015. Albino body parts are highly valued in witchcraft and can fetch a high price. Superstition leads many to believe albino children are ghosts who bring bad luck. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

13-year-old Emmanuel Festo from Tanzania poses for a portrait with a plush toy that he says makes him feel safe at night and that he sleeps with, in New York's Staten Island, September 21, 2015. Albino body parts are highly valued in witchcraft and can fetch a high price. Superstition leads many to believe albino children are ghosts who bring bad luck. Some believe the limbs are more potent if the victims scream during amputation, according to a 2013 United Nations report. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
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03 Oct 2015 08:04:00
A bloody zombie baby head, brain and a hand made of gummy candy and red jelly are pictured as a woman works (rear) at the Zombie Gourmet homemade candy manufacturer on the outskirts of Mexico City October 30, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A bloody zombie baby head, brain and a hand made of gummy candy and red jelly are pictured as a woman works (rear) at the Zombie Gourmet homemade candy manufacturer on the outskirts of Mexico City October 30, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)
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03 Nov 2015 08:04:00
In this April 28, 2015 file photo, heads of tuna on a cart are carried by a fish dealer after the day's auction at Tsukiji Wholesale Market in Tokyo. In one of the biggest of Japan's many New Year holiday rituals, early on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, Tokyo's Tsukiji market will auction off with much fanfare a huge, glistening tuna, likely destined for one of the big sushi chains. If all goes as planned, it will be the last such auction at 80-year-old Tsukiji. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)

In this April 28, 2015 file photo, heads of tuna on a cart are carried by a fish dealer after the day's auction at Tsukiji Wholesale Market in Tokyo. In one of the biggest of Japan's many New Year holiday rituals, early on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, Tokyo's Tsukiji market will auction off with much fanfare a huge, glistening tuna, likely destined for one of the big sushi chains. If all goes as planned, it will be the last such auction at 80-year-old Tsukiji. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)
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06 Jan 2016 08:03:00
In this September 11, 2014 photo, villagers climb down the side of a hill used earlier as a dumping ground of asbestos waste on Roro hills in Roro, India. (Photo by Saurabh Das/AP Photo)

In this September 11, 2014 photo, villagers climb down the side of a hill used earlier as a dumping ground of asbestos waste on Roro hills in Roro, India. An asbestos mine, abandoned nearly three decades ago still affects the people around it and 18 along with Jema were diagnosed with asbestosis in 2012. Tens of thousands more, some former mine workers, remain untested and at risk. (Photo by Saurabh Das/AP Photo)
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26 Dec 2014 14:44:00
Shipping containers sit idle at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California in this aerial photo taken February 6, 2015. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Reuters)

Shipping containers sit idle at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California in this aerial photo taken February 6, 2015. The loading and unloading of cargo freighters has been suspended at all 29 U.S. West Coast ports this weekend because of chronic slowdowns on the docks that shippers and terminal operators have blamed on the dockworkers' union, the companies said Friday. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Reuters)
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10 Feb 2015 12:24:00