Back in early September, the late Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA some 70 days after he passed away in his home back in June of this year. At the time, we saw photos from MJ‘s lavish funeral service attended by family and friends but we were not made privy to his actual resting place. MJ has been interred in a private crypt that is accessible only to an approved list of visitors so up until now we were unable to see where MJ will spend his eternity. Today, tho, we get our first look at MJ‘s crypt adorned by tributes and gifts left in his memory:

Gone but not forgotten! Here is the first photo of Michael Jackson’s final resting place — a regal tomb adorned with flowers, framed photos, letters and other souvenirs. The tributes were left in the crypt at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Glendale, Calif., by longtime Jacko pal and makeup artist Karen Faye, sources told The Post. Jackson’s family picked Forest Lawn’s Great Mausoleum section for its high security. At the mausoleum’s entrance, visitors are greeted by a huge stained-glass reproduction of da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” But to get any farther inside, they have to be on a preapproved list. Faye, who made up Jackson, 50, for his journey into eternity, has been collecting Jacko trinkets for weeks. She’s on the list of approved visitors, and she has been personally taking the tributes to the crypt herself every other week since Jackson’s funeral on Sept. 3, sources said. “She feels like she’s the friend of the fans, that she’s the only thing that can connect the fans to Michael now,” said a source close to Faye. “This is very important to her because she knows the fans loved Michael so much. She does this for them, especially those who traveled to be near Michael.”

Before these first photos were made available, we only had descriptions of MJ‘s crypt to go by … now fans can have a better sense of where MJ has been laid to rest. Considering how much larger than life Michael Jackson was when he lived, I was sure he would be laid to rest in an opulent setting where legions of fans can make the pilgrimage to pay tribute to his memory. Because he did not make his wishes explicitly known before he died, his family was left with the decision on how he would be laid to rest. I honestly do not think MJ would want to be sequestered away from his fans … but this is what his family wants. I suppose it’s poetic for the King of Pop to be hidden away from his fans in such a humble setting. This way, fans can remember him in their hearts exactly the way they choose to.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]