Precincts of the departed

These precincts of the departed are silent witnesses to the many yesterdays of history. Whether they stand at the pinnacle of architectural achievement, as do Westminster Abbey and the Taj Mahal, or at the less exalted level of the urban cemetery, they offer evocations of a society’s history and values, of other lives and times. Over the centuries they have reflected the contours and currents of societies, the rise and fall of cultures. They also evidence one of mankind’s most earnestly held hopes: that death is not actually the end of everything and that there is the prospect of another life to come.