Mauna ûAla (Fragrant Hills) in the Hawaiian language, is the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii (also called Royal Mausoleum State Monument) and the final resting place of Hawaii's two prominent royal families: the Kamehameha Dynasty and the KalÃÂkaua Dynasty.
In the early 19th century, the area near an ancient burial site was known as Pohukaina. It is believed to be the name of a chief (sometimes spelled Pahukaina) who according to legend chose a cave in Kanehoalani in the Koûolau Range for his resting place. The land belonged to Kekauluohi, who later ruled as Kuhina Nui, as part of her birthright.
After 1825, the first Western-style royal tomb was constructed for the bodies of King Kamehameha II and his queen KamÃÂmalu near the current ûIolani Palace. They were buried on August 23, 1825. The idea was heavily influenced by the tombs at Westminster Abbey during Kamehameha II's trip to London. The mausoleum was a small house made of coral blocks with a thatched roof. It had no windows, and it was the duty of two chiefs to guard the iron-locked koa door day and night. No one was allowed to enter the vault except for burials or Memorial Day, a Hawaiian holiday celebrated on December 30. Over time, as more bodies were added, the small vault became crowded, so other chiefs and retainers were buried in unmarked graves nearby. In 1865 a selected eighteen coffins were removed to the Royal Mausoleum named Mauna ûAla in Nuûuanu Valley. But many chiefs remain on the site including: Keaweûëkekahialiûiokamoku, KalaniÃȈ Âpuûu, Chiefess Kapiûolani, and Haûalilio.
Prior to the 19th century, the remains of aliûi of Hawaiûi island were buried at Hale o Keawe and Hale o Lëloa. Other Western-style tombs include a burial site at Honolulu Fort which was lost when the fort was demolished in 1857, a tomb in Lahaina located near Halekamani, and a tomb on the island of Mokuûula in Lahaina. The royal remains from the last two burial sites were transferred to the cemetery of Waiola Church in 1884.
The 2.75-acre (11,000 m<sup>2</sup>) mausoleum was designed by architect Theodore Heuck. By 1862, the Royal Tomb at Pohukaina was full and there were no space for the coffins of Prince Albert, who died August 27, 1862, and King Kamehameha IV, who died November 30, 1863. Kamehameha IV's funeral was delayed for three months while a new mausoleum was built.
Immediately Kamehameha V, brother of Kamehameha IV, started construction of a new mausoleum building in the Nuûuanu Valley on a site chosen by Kamehameha IV and his wife Queen Emma. The Right Reverend Thomas Nettleship Staley, first Anglican Bishop of Honolulu (1823âÂÂ1898), oversaw construction. The west (ûEwa) wing was completed at the end of January 1864. A large funeral procession February 3, 1864, brought the body of Kamehameha IV from ûIolani Palace. His casket was placed on a stand in the new wing. Later in the evening, bearers brought the casket of Ka Haku o Hawaiûi (as Prince Albert was known) and laid him to rest alongside his father. Queen Emma was so overcome with grief that she camped on the grounds of Mauna ûAla, and slept in the mausoleum.
The mausoleum was completed in 1865, adjacent to the public 1844 Oahu Cemetery. The mausoleum seemed a fitting place to bury other past monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaii and their families. The remains of past deceased royals were transferred in a torchlit ceremony at night leading from Pohukaina to the Nuûuanu Valley on October 30, 1865.
Robert Crichton Wyllie, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was buried here in October 1865. Over time, the remains of almost all of Hawaii's monarchs, their consorts, and various princes and princesses would rest at the Royal Mausoleum.
Kamehameha I and William Charles Lunalilo are the only two kings not resting at the mausoleum. Lunalilo, the shortest-reigning Hawaiian monarch (one year and 25 days only), was buried in the Lunalilo Tomb in the church cemetery in the courtyard of Kawaiahaûo Church. Princess NÃÂhiûenaûena and Queen Keà Âpà «olani are buried on Maui at Waiola Church.
Kamehameha I's remains were hidden in a traditional practice to preserve the mana (power) of the aliûi at the time of the Hawaiian religion. For several generations, descendants of Hoûolulu, one of the few chosen to help bury the remains of Kamehameha, have been appointed as caretakers.
On November 9, 1887, after the main mausoleum building became too crowded, the caskets belonging to members of the Kamehameha Dynasty were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault commissioned by Charles Reed Bishop, husband of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. The Territory of Hawaii built a second underground crypt, the Wyllie Tomb (formerly known as the Queen Emma Tomb) in 1904 to separate the caskets of Robert Crichton Wyllie and the relatives of Queen Emma. In 1907, the Territory of Hawaii allocated $20,000 for the construction of a separate underground vault for the KalÃÂkaua family. Queen Liliûuokalani and Prince Jonah Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole were consulted in the construction process. On June 24, 1910, the caskets from the KalÃÂkaua family were moved to newly constructed KalÃÂkaua Crypt in a torchlit nighttime ceremony supervised by the former queen.
In 1922 the main building was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds. The chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 7, 1972.
In 2023, Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike KawÃÂnanakoa (1926âÂÂ2022) became the most recent person to be buried in the Royal Mausoleum. Prior to her death there had not been a burial at the Royal Mausoleum since David KalÃÂkaua KawÃÂnanakoa in 1953. A new tomb was constructed since the KalÃÂkaua vault was at capacity.
Mauna ûAla was removed from the public lands of the United States by a joint resolution of Congress in 1900, two years after the annexation in 1898 of Hawaii by the Newlands Resolution and President William McKinley.
The Mausoleum is one of the only places in Hawaii where the state flag of Hawaii can officially fly alone without the flag of United States. The other three locations are âÂÂIolani Palace, the Puûuhonua o Hà Ânaunau Heiau and Thomas Square.
These are the keepers or kahu of the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna Ala: