Believers gathered at La Paz's General Cemetery on Sunday (November 8) for the Festival of the Ñatitas, an Andean tradition in which Bolivians honour human skulls they believe grant protection and favours.

Devotee Janeth Castillo brought several of the 42 skulls she keeps at home, decorated with flowers, hats and sunglasses, to be blessed with coca leaves, cigarettes, alcohol and food amid music and prayer.

The ritual is held every November 8, a week after All Saints' Day, and draws on Aymara beliefs that the skulls, known as natitas, act as household protectors. The tradition blends Catholic prayer with indigenous ceremonies led by Aymara priests, known as amautas, who use conch shells and incense at the cemetery's ninth gate.

The Catholic Church has long opposed the cult and has refused to bless the skulls in the cemetery chapels. Cemetery authorities now allow the ñatitas to be received on site, but without the involvement of local priests.

Believers ask the skulls for health, work, help with legal cases and protection from theft, and each ñatita usually has a given name.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (NOVEMBER 8, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. SKULLS DRESSED FOR THE CELEBRATION

2. VARIOUS OF WOMEN PRAYING TO THE SKULLS

3. VARIOUS OF MUSICIANS PLAYING FOR THE BELIEVERS IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE SKULLS

4. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DANCING

5. MUSICIANS PLAYING

6. VARIOUS OF SKULLS DRESSED FOR THE CELEBRATION WITH SUNGLASSES

7. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WITH SKULL MAKE-UP

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BELIEVER, JHANET CASTILLO, SAYING:

"We are welcoming our little souls, our ñatitas. We have known these little souls for 23 years, and every Monday we pray to them and ask them for favours. They grant favours, and they are also faithful confidants who never throw your past in your face. They are loyal friends you can count on all year, and especially today because it is their birthday. I have 42 ñatitas and three Santa Muerte figures."

9. VARIOUS OF CASTILLO WITH HER 42 SKULLS BROUGHT TO THE CEMETERY FOR THE CELEBRATION

10. CASTILLO SPEAKING TO A SKULL, SAYING (Spanish): "Don't forget about us. We will not forget about you. Welcome little papa"

11. VARIOUS OF CASTILLO'S 42 SKULLS

12. VARIOUS OF WOMEN WALKING ALONG THE CEMETERY AISLES WITH TWO SKULLS

13. CEMETERY

14. TWO BABIES' SKULLS

15. SKULLS WITH COCA LEAVES

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEVOTEE, TERESA COAQUIRA, SAYING:

"It (the skull) watches over the house, it looks after it when we go out. They are very lovely, an incomparable companion. Even though we only have the skull, we have a lot of faith, and it is part of the family. It's not a ñatita that someone gave us as a gift, as others do. He is from our family."

17. DEVOTEE OFFERING A CIGARETTE TO A HUMAN SKULL

18. WOMEN WITH SKULLS

19. PEOPLE LIGHTING CANDLES IN FRONT OF SKULLS

20. VARIOUS OF DEVOTEE HOLDING BOX WITH A SKULL AS MUSICIANS PLAY MUSIC