One of the most sobering parts of visiting Elvis Presley‘s Graceland is the Meditation Garden, located behind the primary residence in the backyard. There lie the remains of Elvis, his parents Gladys and Vernon, twin brother Jesse, grandmother Minnie Mae, and grandson Benjamin. However, the Meditation Garden wasn’t intended to be a family graveyard. Its purpose was for something entirely different.
Elvis Presley’s Graceland opened up for tours in 1982
Upon Elvis Presley’s 1977 death, his estate suffered from a cash flow problem due to the entertainer’s extreme spending habits. According to its official website, at the time, Graceland cost over half a million dollars annually in maintenance and taxes.
In late 1981, the estate planned and executed the opening of Graceland to the public and oversaw the total operation. Graceland opened for tours on June 7, 1982. The home welcomes over 500,000 visitors each year and is one of the five most visited home tours in the United States. It is the most famous home in America after The White House.
However, its meditation garden, now an integral part of the tour, wasn’t always the Presley family’s final resting place. A harrowing incident after Elvis’ death changed plans for the tranquil backyard area.
Elvis Presley used the Meditation Garden during his life as a tranquil place of reflection
On August 18, 1977, two days after his untimely death, Presley was buried next to his late mother, Gladys, at Memphis’ Forest Hill Cemetery. However, an attempt by three men to steal the singer’s 900-lb. steel-lined, copper-plated coffin and hold Elvis’ remains for ransom changed the family’s plans. Elvis and Gladys’ remains were returned to Graceland, reported People Magazine, and laid to rest in the Meditation Garden.
The Meditation Garden, just south of the swimming pool area, was constructed in 1964-1965, per the website Elvis.au. Elvis reportedly built the site as a place for contemplation, a private retreat on the property.
The Garden’s centerpiece is a circular twelve-foot fountain pool with five single jets of water and a larger one in the middle. Colored floodlights illuminate the area. A pergola of columns faces the south side of the pool and contains stained glass panels.
Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie Presley talks about having a graveyard in the back of her childhood home
Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, spoke honestly about having a family graveyard in the backyard of her childhood home, reported by Express.
“The back lawn of Graceland is a graveyard. How many people have a family grave in the backyard? How many people are reminded of their fate, mortality, every [expletive] day?” she said.
Furthermore, in 2003, Lisa Marie spoke of growing up in the mansion in the lyrics of a song titled “Lights Out.” She sang, “Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis. That’s where my family’s buried and gone. The last time I was there, I noticed a space left. Next to them, there in Memphis, In the damn back lawn.”
