Constructed on the outskirts of Theed, the Funeral Temple was a quiet, reflective place sought out while mourning the dead. An ancient domed building, the small temple had an open ceiling directly over the pyre at the interior chamber's center. It was at the temple that the planet's dead were cremated, their lives celebrated by mourners who gathered in a tiered circle around the pyre.
It was Naboo belief that a body had to be cremated within two days of death in order to return the life force of the dead to the planet. Following the cremation, it was tradition for those closest to the deceased to throw the ashes from the short bridge between the temple and the Livet Tower, and into the Solleu River before its plunge over the cliff. The Eternal Flame within the Livet Tower served to remind the Naboo of the transience of their current life and their duty to lead harmonious lives.
The pyre in the Funeral Temple, where Qui-Gon Jinn was cremated
Throughout the temple's history, many notable individuals were mourned at the temple. Following the deaths of his family, Senator Vidar Kim wept openly as he carried the ashes of his wife and two sons to be spread in the Solleu River. Two years later, Senator Kim was murdered by a Maladian assassin and was cremated in the Naboo Embassy on Coruscant, a small candle resting on his chest representing the Livet Tower's Eternal Flame.
In 32 BBY, following the Trade Federation's unsuccessful invasion of the planet, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was cremated in the temple after his death at the hands of a mysterious Zabrak Sith. Over a decade later, at the close of the bloody Clone Wars, former Queen and Senator of Naboo Padmé Amidala was, against the rules of the Naboo, not cremated in the temple. Instead, her body was placed in a mausoleum under unknown circumstances.
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I
- The Official Star Wars Fact File89
- Star Wars: Complete Locations