A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
A funeral home in Findlay, Ohio
Offices of the Butterworth & Sons mortuary in Seattle, Washington, 1900
J. Levy & Bro Funeral Home in Galveston
Abbey Chapel at the Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery in Lubbock, Texas
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.
Opening of the mouth ceremony (Ancient Egypt)
Kotsuage bone picking ceremony (Japanese Buddhist)
Funeral of Pope John Paul II (Catholic Church)
Cremations at Manikarnika Ghat (Hindu)