In the era of social media, profile photo has become everyone’s identity, but have you ever heard that people decide in advance the profile photo for their grave also? One such unique tradition is seen in the Central Asian country Tajikistan, which has surprised people on social media.
The tradition of placing a large photograph of a deceased person on graves is quite common in Dushanbe and surrounding areas, the capital of Tajikistan. These photos look exactly like social media profile photos. The special thing is that many people decide even before their death which picture will be placed on their grave. People get photographed wearing nice clothes and in special poses so that after their death the same photograph can be placed on the grave.
Local people believe that a person’s memories remain alive for a long time through photographs. Many people like to be photographed in traditional clothes or smiling. This is the reason why the cemeteries there look like a photo gallery.
A lot of money is spent on decorating these graves. The photo is framed with the name and date on the stone. Many rich families install LED lights, big screens and even 3D images on the graves so that the picture is clearly visible even at night. This tradition is seen not only in Tajikistan but also in Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.