When should I start to build the Tombstone?

The below is a personal sharing from what I have experienced as a Nirvana Service Advisor. There are two parts for those who opt for burial. In the Chinese tradition, the body of a deceased should return to the ground. This means that a burial land will be required.

In Nirvana, burial land are available in a variety of sizes for different preferences. At Nirvana Memorial Park, you may have seen the usual single and double lots. Single lots are for one person, while double lots, typically for couples, accommodate two. There are also larger burial land plots to cater for family burial, hence it is like a family burial plot. For those seeking something unique, the royal family burial plot provides spacious land with stunning views, allowing you to design a personalized final resting place.

A burial plot, when purchased, is completely bare and empty. The analogy is similar to purchasing a land to build a house. You as the purchaser will then have to built a ‘house’ on top of it. The process of building a ‘house’ is what we call the Feng Shui tomb or tombstone. Some will choose to build it only after the intended user passes away. In the normal practice, the building of the tombstone must be done within 100 days of passing. Alternatively, the tombstone can also be built much earlier (pre-built) which is a better practice.

Tombstone or Feng Shui Tomb

When you buy a burial plot at any Nirvana Memorial Park, there’s a service to help you set up the tombstone. Each Nirvana Memorial Park has a Feng Shui tomb department that assists with design and construction of tombstones. External contractors are not allowed for quality control, to control the overall design, to take care of the surrounding customer’s tombstones, and to make sure that all rules and regulations are strictly adhered to.

For smaller lots (single and double burial plot), there are designs and material types that you can choose from. Larger burial plots, such as family and royal family plots, allow for flexible design based on your needs. You can talk to the Nirvana Tombstone department about material type, design, and the number of family members to be buried on the burial plot.

How much does it cost to build the tombstone?

Below are estimates meant to assist you to get a ball park figure of how much it would cost to build a tombstone after purchasing a burial land. These indicative figures can be a good guide, however the final cost may differ due to inflation, rising cost of materials, different designs, different locations, special requirements, etc. Nirvana’s tombstone department would the best party to give you a precise and exact quote based on your requirements at point of building the tombstone.

• Single / Double Burial Plot: Approximately 80% or more of the burial land price. It is highly dependent on the design and material of choice. A double lot in NV-Q based on G654 material cost approximately RM54,800 (as of time of writing).
• Family Burial Plot: Approximately 50% of the burial land price. Again, this is dependent on design and material of choice. Personally, I had a customer who purchased a Family Burial that has a max occupancy of 8 pax but he has chosen a design for 4 pax occupancy. The total cost of building the tombstone of choice is RM160,000.
• Royal Family Burial Plot: These spacious lots comes with amazing view, and likely the best Feng Shui in the entire memorial park. Building a tombstone for a Royal Family Lot is estimated to cost around RM1 million, depending on design, materials, and space used.

Do note that building tombstones requires full payment in a lump sum with no installments. Hence, this cost needs to be put into consideration.
Another important reminder is that tombstones can only be build after the burial land has been fully paid for.

An alternative is to pre-build the tombstone . The main benefit is cost-saving, as today price will definitely be cheaper than in the future. Assume today it is RM 54,800 for a double lot – but this price will no longer be the same in 10 or 20 or 30 years due to inflation. It may be worthwhile to consider building it now and lock in today’s prices.

Believers in Sheng Ji will benefit from building a tombstone in advance as it brings benefits by attracting positive Qi from the surroundings. A professional Feng Shui sifu would be able to provide you with advice on how to get started with the Sheng Ji process.

If you are thinking of purchasing a burial plot and pre-building a tombstone, to lock in today’s prices and to give you a total peace of mind – we are available to guide you through the process. Get an initial consultation with us – we are happy to have a chat with you to get your started.

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