The massive marble and concrete Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was slightly accessible by the public before Michael Jackson was entombed somewhere in its maze of floors and hallways.
The ceremony was made private. No fans, no paparazzi, and so far no one trying too hard to steal a glimpse of the vault containing Jackson's golden casket.
The exact location may forever remain unknown to all but a select few: A guest who attended the Jackson ceremony told The Associated Press the casket had not been put into the vault by the time mourners left.
The funeral began Thursday night nearly two hours after its scheduled 7 p.m. time. Some 200 mourners, including 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and other celebrities associated with Jackson, showed up promptly, only to wait at the outdoor seating area, under a withering late-summer sun that pushed temperatures to 90 degrees even as it was going down.
The ceremony began with remarks and song after the family arrived to fill the front five rows of white folding chairs.
Mourners then followed Jackson's brothers as they carried the casket into the mausoleum. The singer's daughter, 11-year-old Paris, cried and was comforted by her aunt, LaToya.
More than 400 media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who were kept behind barricades. The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter encircling the cemetery entrance struggled to see.
Glendale police said all went smoothly and there were no arrests.
Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the Great Mausoleum. The level of security and secrecy about the location of Jackson's vault all but guaranteed it won't be turned into a shrine or tourist stop.
The entombment also ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction.
The King of Pop died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep.
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