Love Is Eternal

The grand Taj Mahal in India is, if you were unaware, a mausoleum that was built to express the love of Shah Jahan for his favorite of three wives, Mumtaz Mahal. The immense structure, created out of white marble, has stood since it was finally finished in 1632. Few on this earth possess the means to construct such a lavish expression of our love for another.

But simple means did not stop an octogenarian retired postmaster from trying his best to do the same. Faizal Hasan Quadri set out to erect a structure that would comfort the concerns of his now deceased wife; that they would die and be forgotten as they had no children to carry on their name. And so Quadri met with several architects to draw up plans for a mausoleum that would ensure immortality for the two who would one day reside within.

“I wanted to make a ‘monument of love’ in her memory. I called up an architect and assigned him the work, but I did not like his design.” It was then that Quadri recalled his younger days in Agra, where he was training for work. The glorious Taj Mahal stuck in his memory. He decided he would create a Mini Taj. 

Three Strange Mausoleum Stories

Mausoleums are a symbol of remembrance and honor for many cultures. Over the years, exquisite mausoleums like the Taj Mahal have attracted tourists from all over the country to see its artistry. Other tombs like the three you will read about in this blog seem to lure people in by the mystery and strange stories around their design. Nevertheless, a mausoleum should be unique and have its own story to tell. A story that, sometimes, is stranger than fiction.

A Home After The Sunset

The sun provides for us. Its rays shower us with warmth and allow for the plant and animal life on this planet to survive and to thrive. One person, in particular, credits the sun with his own success in life. Ron Rice, you see, is the founder of the Hawaiian Tropic brand of suntan lotions. And at age 75, he is preparing for the setting of the sun on this life he has led.

Just north of Daytona Beach, Florida is the community of Ormond Beach. It is in this small community that Rice has just completed the construction of his 6 crypt mausoleum for himself, his ex-wife, and his daughter. He explains the three additional crypts are reserved for any future grandchildren provided him by his daughter. 

The Human Cost of Early Mausolea

A story came to light earlier this week of a massive find of more than 10,000 skeletons in what is being called the “criminal tombs”, dating back to about 202 BC, during the Chinese Han Dynasty. The name given this macabre find refers to the fact that many of the skeletal remains are bound by shackles and fetters.

As explained at this week’s Symposium for Research on Hanyang Mausoleum and Han Culture, the many remains were of prisoners who had been forced to build the Hanyang Mausoleum, and the tomb where Hanjingdi Liu Qi (188 – 141 DC), the fourth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, and his wife are buried. There had been reports of an archaeological find of many prisoners as far back as 1972, but that excavation was more than a mile from this most recent discovery. 

The Sun Also Rises: Mausoleum Meets Solar Power

An interesting story came out of the St. Louis, Missouri area this week when an enterprising cemetery merged the paragon of human eternity, the mausoleum, with another eternal object, the sun. The New Mount Sinai Cemetery constructed an array of solar panels that captures the sun’s light and converts it into energy for their large communal mausoleum.

Speaking to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, New Mount Sinai Cemetery board member Dick Brickson said, “Economically, we think it’s a wonderful thing. Ecologically, we think it’s a wonderful thing as well.” And while this is not the first instance of a cemetery using solar power, it is a sign of these eco-conscious times and a growing trend for both private and public mausoleums.

Renaissance Architecture in Mausoleum Design

Renaissance architecture was a rebirth of Roman forms. As a movement born in Italy, it’s not surprising that Renaissance architects were inspired by the stately Roman structures surrounding them. The chief characteristic of Renaissance architecture is a return to the classic forms. The influence of Roman styles in many Renaissance mausoleum designs is clear. However, Renaissance mausoleum architecture incorporates other architectural elements and styles, including Romanesque Revival and even classic Greek architecture. By examining a set of Renaissance mausoleums, it’s easy to see the diversity in this period of architecture.

Coster Memorial

The Coster Memorial, in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, perfectly demonstrates the evolution of the Renaissance mausoleum architecture style. This mausoleum incorporates the fluted Ionic columns so prevalent in Roman architecture, crowned with volute capitals. The domed roof is a common feature in Renaissance architecture, as domes emulating the Roman Parthenon became popular during this architectural era. The faux roof crowning the entrance to the mausoleum is a classic example of Roman Ionic architectural style, but carried out in a Renaissance design where the overall structure is much more massive and ornate.

What Does a Mausoleum Interior Look Like?

Mausoleum interiors vary as much as the mausoleums themselves. When families choose a custom private mausoleum, they create the interior they want – regardless of what’s common in mausoleum interior design. Traditionally, mausoleum interiors are utilitarian, with vaults for the caskets recessed in the walls or under the floor. However, with a custom private mausoleum, families can choose a more ornate mausoleum interior, and can add lavish details like sumptuous decorations and furnishings.

Chapel-Style Mausoleum Interior

One way in which families embellish upon a traditional utilitarian mausoleum interior is by designing a chapel mausoleum. A chapel-style mausoleum design includes an altar. Families who want the mausoleum to have a religious focus select this type of mausoleum.

Jewish Mausoleums & Monuments

Most mausoleums place remains above ground inside a mausoleum crypt. Because Scripture and Jewish tradition dictate burial of the deceased in the ground, mausoleums are not commonly used by the Jewish faithful. Instead, Jewish cemetery monuments are placed over the earthen grave of the beloved deceased.

American Mausoleums: Mausoleum Entombment for Loved Ones

Looking back through the centuries, we see many architecturally outstanding mausoleums such as that of Akbar the Great, the Taj Mahal and of course, the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos (from where the word mausoleum derives). Each is a magnificent tribute to ones loved and lost. Although now significantly downscaled, mausoleum entombment continues, along with the tradition of respecting family legacy.

Today, American mausoleums are usually small buildings purchased by a community or large organization to hold bodies of the departed after a funeral. Private mausoleums, however, are on the rise due to the opportunity the individual or family has to design a unique and meaningful place of repose for both the living and the dead.