Mausoleums Go High Tech
- At June 17, 2014
- By communitymaus
- In Article
- 0
Since the ancient Persian satrap Mausolus built his memorial, we’ve had a name for a process that humans have engaged in for thousands of years: mausoleum burial, or above-ground burial. Mausoleums have changed throughout history to meet the times. Monuments that house the remains of the dead reached unequaled grandeur in antiquity (think the Pyramids), but today they’re reaching a level of technological sophistication unparalleled in the course of human history.
One of the many innovations incorporated into mausoleums today is lighting that revolutionizes the atmosphere of the mausoleum — making current mausoleums a far cry from their dark, forbidding ancient counterparts. The Ruriden mausoleum in Tokyo is one example: The building uses 2,046 lighted statues made of a glass called “ruriki” to symbolize the souls of the departed. In the case of Ruriden, each light changes its color depending on the temperature and season.
The Ruriden mausoleum incorporates other technological advancements. When visitors enter, they’re able to key in the name of their loved one and a corresponding light above the appropriate section of the mausoleum lights up. They can use special key cards to access their loved one’s memorial at any time of day. The temple caters to people of all nationalities and religious denominations.
Cemeteries and mausoleums are also using technology to remember the lives of the departed. Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Glendale, California, fixes displays to individual niches outfitted with computer chips that can call up the deceased’s bio, obituary, and any other information they or their loved ones might desire — including a voice recording created by the departed.
In death as in life, people yearn for memorials that reflect who they were and how they lived. The mausoleums of the past were impressive monuments that reflected the designs and ambitions of their creators. The Taj Mahal, the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty in China, the original tomb of Mausolus — all were memorials built on a massive scale to reflect the status of their creators. Modern mausoleums might not require the same scale of human effort, but they nevertheless reflect the sophisticated, technologically advanced lives of their creators.