World's largest cemetery is located in the city of Najaf, Iraq, which is called Wadi al-Salam, it is also known as the valley of peace. The city of Najaf is one of the major cities of Iraq and it also has the status of a holy city.
This cemetery has been in use for the past fourteen hundred years, but its traditions date back even further. Apart from being the largest cemetery in the world, it is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wadi al-Salam Cemetery covers an area of 1485.5 acres over 9 km and houses more than five million graves. This number of graves is equal to the entire population of Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland. Millions of people visit here every year. This cemetery contains the graves of mostly Shia Muslims and those who were martyred in state wars. 150 to 200 dead are buried in the cemetery every day.
In Wadi al-Salam, there are earthen basements for burying the dead. In these basements, the earthen blocks have the capacity to bury more or less fifty-fifty dead bodies.
Famous kings, princes and sultans are buried in Wadi al-Salam cemetery, besides the graves of Hazrat Hud (peace be upon him), Hazrat Salih (peace be upon him) and the holy shrine of Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib (RA) is also here.
Plasters and bricks are used here in the construction of graves and tombs. The underground basement blocks in the cemetery are forgotten. During the war, local militias built their bases in these underground passages and continued to resist the American forces through guerilla warfare. Insurgent groups also used underground routes for their operations. The Iraqi Army has bulldozed underground passageways and basements in several places in the cemetery.
In 2003, the cemetery was expanded further, its boundaries have been increased till now by 3 square miles and many mysterious incidents and stories related to Wadi al-Salam cemetery are also connected.