It is not uncommon for many of us to give thought as to how we would like our remains to be dealt with once life has come to an end. While an increasing number of people opt for cremation over traditional burial, consideration of where to put our ashes after the cremation process is something often overlooked.
Where To Put Ashes From Cremation
The best place to put ashes from cremation is traditionally in a funereal urn, and then buried at a cemetery or housed in a columbarium niche. Other places where ashes can be interred or displayed include memorials, urn or scattering gardens, crypts, and mausoleums. Some people even opt to keep them at home, either in the garden or in the house.
While there are a plethora of novel options available for adventurous types, (at sea, in fireworks, sent up to space!), it might be more prudent for most of us to explore what traditionally grounded options have to offer first.
Cemeteries
Cemeteries are possibly the most traditional of all resting places for the deceased. Some people may be unaware that grave sites at cemeteries are not solely for the interment of caskets – it is quite possible to purchase a burial plot for an urn too.
Burial Plots For Ashes
Choosing to forgo laying someone to rest in a coffin by burying their ashes at a cemetery instead offers a couple of advantages.
Firstly, graves for urns don’t need to be as wide or as deep as for caskets – while coffins need to be placed 6 feet down, ashes can be buried at only 3 feet.
Secondly, burial sites for urns are much more accommodating of additional occupants, allowing entire families to be interred in a space that might otherwise only afford two people.
Urn Vaults For Burying Ashes
Burying an urn in the ground at a cemetery normally requires it to first be placed inside a vault. This is a lined and sealed container that protects the urn from possible damage that can result due to the pressures from the earth above it, and any heavy tools it may come into contact with during burial or future maintenance work.
Urn vaults can also act as time capsules. Not only do they house the funereal urn, but can also contain any small items you wish to bury alongside your loved ones, as well as featuring inscriptions and images on the casing.
Common materials for urn vaults include:
- Concrete
- Polymer
- Metal
Memorial Parks
Memorial parks are cemeteries that don’t let the interring of remains affect the view of the area. By covering the urn burial site with a flat-top, often bronze 4-inch rectangular marker, the view across the landscape is uninterrupted – perfect for those who want to be remembered more by the beauty of the natural environment around them than the headstones that represent where they lay.
Unless you are directly above a burial spot, walking through a memorial park can seem just like any other picturesque stroll, which offers a possible relief for those who struggle with visiting places that feature constant grim reminders of having lost a loved one.
Memorial Gardens
Growing in popularity in recent years are memorial gardens. Essentially, they are simply well-kept green areas with a scattering of plaques to denote the location of either an above or below ground interring. The benefit of housing a funereal urn in a memorial garden is the ability to take in the surrounding beauty of trees and flowers to help aid in reflection and inspire remembrance.
Some of these gardens are simply rebranded cemeteries, albeit ones that are very well maintained. Others can focus more heavily on the ‘garden’ aspect and provide paths and greenery worthy of a long walk on a sunny day.
Urn Gardens
A fairly new concept, not all cemeteries will be aesthetically appealing enough to be considered memorial gardens, but may offer a section of well-maintained landscape to cater to those seeking one. Urn gardens usually provide the option for either a straightforward burial, or to flawlessly integrate the urn with the landscape as part of a bench or other landmark.
If you’re thinking about where to put ashes from cremation and can’t decide between a cemetery and a memorial park, then an urn garden makes for an excellent alternative third option.
Scattering Gardens
Just like urn gardens, scattering gardens offer a place of great natural beauty for accommodation the remains of your loved ones – the big difference being that their ashes are scattered across the area rather than buried.
Both urn gardens and scattering gardens are picturesque and peacefully serene places that usually provide benches for quiet contemplation. If a public venue is not to your liking however, it is entirely possible to create a private bereavement beauty spot in your very own back garden – either for burial or scattering.
Crypts
Traditionally Christian, due to them being found mostly underneath churches, ‘crypt’ is actually a term that can be applied to any underground chamber being used to accommodate the deceased. In fact it is quite common these days to find any stone burial chamber, either below or above ground, being referred to as one.
As you might expect from the strong Christian association, the most famous crypt is likely the one found at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Rome.
Many crypts are cold, dark, and uninviting places. Most are accessible via a single entrance, which is most often permanently sealed after every new interment. These days there are practices in place to prevent the foul smells that plagued the crypts of times gone by, such as wrapping caskets in plastic and adequate pipe maintenance.
There are several types of crypts, but these definitions are mostly only relevant to the interring of caskets rather than urns:
- Single Crypt – room for a single casket
- Companion Crypt – accommodates two caskets end-to-end
- Side-By-Side Crypt – houses two caskets next to each other
- Westminster Crypt – enough space to inter an entire family in caskets
Although not unheard of, generally speaking crypts are for the interment of caskets rather than urns. Even crypts that feature good ventilation and drainage systems are not traditionally designed with mourners in mind however – that’s what mausoleums are for.
Mausoleums
Mausoleums are above-ground tombs often purpose-built with a particular person or people in mind. They afford a high level of intimacy and privacy for the bereaved when attending the resting place of their loved ones. Tears and talking can be released away from the prying eyes of nearby spectators.
It makes sense then that they were popular with the stiff upper lip types in Victorian Britain, where displays of emotion were a strictly private affair.
Known as cenotaphs when not being used to house remains, mausoleums are elaborate and beautiful structures that often inter couples or even entire families. Normally they are designed with caskets in mind, but it is quite common to see them used for urns too.
The most extravagant example of a mausoleum is probably the ivory-white marble Taj Mahal in Agra, India, which was constructed in the 1600s – and despite housing a mosque and a guest house, only entombs two people, Emperor Shah Jahan and his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The aesthetics of a mausoleum are directly dependent on cost. With enough spending, a mausoleum can be the size of a mansion and be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. For those without that kind of spending power however, a more humble mausoleum the size of a large van in a garden cemetery is more likely.
Underground Mausoleums
More commonly known as lawn crypts, underground mausoleums are chambers below the surface of a mausoleum which house several caskets or urns, often in a stacked fashion, to accommodate many members of the same family.
Columbarium Niches
Traditionally, the best type of mausoleum for housing ashes is one purposely designed to do so, which is known as a columbarium. While private columbaria normally feature only a handful of compartments for funerary urns of family members, public ones tend to provide a greater number of alcoves.
Columbaria are possibly the most popular solution to anyone wanting to know where to put ashes after cremation.
Available in either indoor or outdoor options, columbaria are often plain rooms with shelves for placing cremated remains, but are sometimes more elaborate, extravagantly decorated affairs. Often hiding funerary urns behind simple plaques, they are available as either open or closed niches – whichever best suits the bereaved family’s tastes.
Columbaria are a great option for interring ashes as being above ground makes them easily accessible, and they often provide areas readily available for placing flowers and taking some time for quiet contemplation.
Considering Options For Where To Put Ashes After Cremation
Ultimately, despite what anyone else thinks is best, deciding on where to put the ashes of a loved one is a deeply personal matter that’s entirely up to you. Once the remains are in the funereal urn, you need to consider the wishes of the deceased, and how best they can be remembered.
Some questions to think about when deciding where to put ashes:
- Do you like seeing the urn or should it be out of sight?
- Is a formal or a picturesque setting best for remembrance?
- Should the ashes be confined to a single place (in an urn) or spread out into the world (scattered)?
- Would you prefer the ashes close by or to be some distance away (keep them at home or at another location)?
- How tactile do you want your remembrance experience to be (should the urn be buried or would you prefer it to be within reach)?
Finding answers to these questions can help you decide whether the best place to put ashes after cremation is above or below ground, in a columbarium niche, a mausoleum, a crypt, a memorial garden or park, or at a cemetery.
