List of largest funerals

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This list of notable funerals represents significant historical funerals, based on both the number of attendants and estimated television audience.

More information Funeral, Date ...
Funeral Date Country City No. of attendees Television audience
C. N. AnnaduraiFebruary 4, 1969 India Madras~15,000,000[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Qasem Soleimani January 5, 2020 Iran Ahvaz and Mashhad ~7,000,000[8]
January 6, 2020 Tehran and Qom[9]
January 7, 2020 Kerman[9]
Dahiru Usman Bauchi November 28, 2025 Nigeria Bauchi ~4,000,000[10]
Pope John Paul IIApril 8, 2005 Vatican CityRome~4,000,000[11][12]2,000,000,000[13]
Umm KulthumFebruary 5, 1975 EgyptCairo~4,000,000[14][15][16]
Indira GandhiNovember 3, 1984 IndiaDelhi~3,500,000[17]
M.G. RamachandranDecember 25, 1987 IndiaMadras~3,500,000[17]
Puneeth Rajkumar October 29, 2021 India Bengaluru ~3,500,000[18][19][20][21][22] 50,000,000
Eva PerónAugust 9, 1952 ArgentinaBuenos Aires~3,000,000[23]
Ayrton SennaMay 5, 1994 BrazilSão Paulo~3,000,000[24](in Brazil) at least 100,000,000[25][26]
Gamal Abdel NasserOctober 1, 1970 United Arab RepublicCairo~3,000,000[27][28][29]
Chiang Kai-shekApril 10–16, 1975 TaiwanTaipei~2,500,000[30]
Ruhollah KhomeiniJune 5–6, 1989 IranMausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, Tehran~2,000,000−10,200,000[31]
Victor HugoJune 1, 1885 FranceParis~2,000,000−3,000,000[32]
Benigno Aquino Jr.August 31, 1983 PhilippinesSanto Domingo Church and Manila Memorial Park – Sucat, Metro Manila~2,000,000[33]
Berkin Elvan March 12, 2014 Turkey Istanbul ~2,000,000[34]
Houari BoumédièneDecember 29, 1978 AlgeriaAlgiers~2,000,000[35]
J. JayalalithaaDecember 6, 2016 IndiaChennai~2,000,000[36]
Kim Il-sungJuly 19, 1994 North KoreaPyongyang~2,000,000[37]
Mahatma GandhiFebruary 6, 1948 IndiaNew Delhi~2,000,000[38][39]
Park Chung-heeNovember 3, 1979 South KoreaSeoul~2,000,000[40]
Ziaur RahmanJune 2, 1981 BangladeshDhaka~2,000,000[41][42]
Khaleda ZiaDecember 30, 2025 BangladeshDhaka~1,600,000−3,200,000[43]
Bal ThackerayNovember 18–19, 2012 IndiaShivaji Park, Mumbai~1,500,000−2,500,000[44][45]
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonNovember 18, 1852 United KingdomLondon~1,500,000[46]
Jawaharlal NehruMay 28, 1964 IndiaNew Delhi~1,500,000[47]
Hassan NasrallahFebruary 23, 2025 LebanonCamille Chamoun, Beirut~1,300,000−1,700,000[48][49][50][51]
Juan PerónJuly 2–4, 1974 ArgentinaBuenos Aires~1,135,000[52]
Hugo ChávezMarch 6–8, 2013 VenezuelaCaracas~1,000.000−3,000,000[53]
Akhtar Raza KhanJuly 20, 2018 IndiaBareilly~1,000,000[54][55][56]12,500,000
Enrico BerlinguerJune 13, 1984 ItalyRome~1,000,000[57]
GP KoiralaMarch 20, 2010   NepalKathmandu~1,000,000[58]
Ibrahim Rugova January 27, 2006 Kosovo Prishtina ~1,000,000[59]
Johnny HallydayDecember 9, 2017 FranceParis~1,000,000[60]15,000,000[61]
M. KarunanidhiAugust 8, 2018 IndiaChennai~1,000,000[62]
Mother TeresaSeptember 13, 1997 IndiaCalcutta~1,000,000[63]at least 1,000,000[13]
Muhammad Zia Ul HaqAugust 19, 1988 PakistanIslamabad~1,000,000[64]
Pope Shenouda IIIMarch 20, 2012 EgyptCairo~1,000,000[65]
Diana, Princess of WalesSeptember 6, 1997 United KingdomLondon and Althorp, Northamptonshire~1,000,000
(2,000 at funeral service)[66][67]		2,500,000,000[67]
Queen Elizabeth II September 19, 2022 United Kingdom London ~1,000,000
(2,000 at funeral service)[68][69]

29,000,000 in the UK[70]

Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherApril 9, 2002 United KingdomLondon~1,000,000[71]
Mao ZedongSeptember 9–18, 1976 ChinaBeijing~1,000,000[72]
Nelson Mandela (memorial service)December 10–15, 2013 South AfricaJohannesburg, Pretoria, and Qunu~1,000,000
1,000 for Memorial Service[73][74]
Võ Nguyên GiápOctober 12–13, 2013 VietnamHanoi~1,000,000[75]
Ovadia YosefOctober 7, 2013 IsraelJerusalem~850,000[76][77]
King Hussein of JordanFebruary 8, 1999 JordanAmman~800,000[78]
Pierre GemayelNovember 23, 2006 LebanonBeirut~800,000[79]
Mir Osman Ali KhanFebruary 25, 1967 IndiaHyderabad~800,000[80][81]
Chaim Kanievsky March 20, 2022 Israel Bnei Brak ~750,000[82][83]
Zubeen Garg September 21–22, 2025 India Guwahati ~700,000–1,500,000[84][85]
Josip Broz TitoMay 8, 1980 YugoslaviaBelgrade~700,000[86]
Pedro Aguirre CerdaNovember 28, 1941 ChileSantiago~700,000[87]
Mustafa Kemal AtatürkNovember 11, 1938 TurkeyAnkara~600,000−750,000[88][89]
Jerzy PopiełuszkoNovember 3, 1984 Polish People's RepublicWarsaw~600,000−1,000,000[90][91]
Carter Harrison IIIOctober 31–November 1, 1893 United StatesChicago~500,000[92]–1,060,000[93] (funeral procession)
~100,000 (public visitation of open casket)[92]		N/a
John F. KennedyNovember 25, 1963 United StatesWashington, D.C.~550,000[24]41,500,000[13]
Georgi AsparuhovJune 30–July 2, 1971 BulgariaSofia~550,000[94]
Tomáš Garrigue MasarykSeptember 21, 1937 CzechoslovakiaPrague~500,000−750,000[95]
Juan GabrielSeptember 4–5, 2016 MexicoCiudad Juárez, Chihuahua and Mexico City~500,000−1,000,000[96]
August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, and Albert Parsons (executed Haymarket Affair defendants)November 13, 1887 United StatesChicago~500,000[97]N/a
Baruch Charney Vladeck November 2, 1938 United States New York City ~500,000[98]-750,000[99]
BP KoiralaJuly 21, 1982   NepalKathmandu~500,000[100]
B. R. AmbedkarDecember 6, 1956 IndiaMumbai~500,000[101]
Carmen MirandaAugust 12, 1955 BrazilRio de Janeiro~500,000[102]
Buenaventura DurrutiNovember 23, 1936 SpainBarcelona~500,000[103][104]
Engelbert DollfussJuly 30, 1934 AustriaVienna~500,000[105]
Michael CollinsAugust 28, 1922 IrelandDublin ~500,000[106]N/a
Patriarchh PavleNovember 19, 2009 SerbiaRakovica Monastery, Belgrade~500,000[107]
Sathya Sai BabaApril 24, 2011 IndiaPuttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh~500,000[108]
Winston ChurchillJanuary 30, 1965 United KingdomLondon~500,000
(6,000 at funeral service)[109][110]		6,000[109]
Osman HadiDecember 20, 2025 BangladeshDhaka~500,000−1,000,000[111][112]
Necmettin Erbakan March 1, 2011 Turkey Istanbul ~400,000−2,000,000[113][114]
Pope Francis April 21–26, 2025 Vatican City Rome ~400,000[115]
Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniJanuary 9–11, 2017 IranTehran~330,000−2,500,000[116]
Francisco FrancoNovember 22–23, 1975 SpainMadrid~300,000−500,000[117][118]
Fernando Poe Jr. December 22, 2004 Philippines Santo Domingo Church and Manila North Cemetery, Metro Manila ~300,000[119]
Giuseppe Verdi February 27, 1901 Italy Milan ~300,000[120]
January 30, 1901 ~10,000[120]
Martin Luther King Jr.April 9, 1968 United StatesAtlanta~300,000[121]120,000,000[13]
John MonashOctober 11, 1931 AustraliaMelbourne~300,000[122]
Abdulbaki Erol July 13, 2023 Turkey Adıyaman ~250,000[123]
Hendrik VerwoerdSeptember 10, 1966 South AfricaPretoria~250,000[124]
Heydar AliyevDecember 15, 2003 AzerbaijanBaku~250,000[125][self-published source]
Charles de GaulleNovember 12, 1970 FranceColombey~250,000[126][AI-retrieved source]
Józef PiłsudskiMay 18, 1935 PolandKraków~250,000[127][128]
Sholem AleichemMay 13, 1916 United StatesNew York City~250,000[129]
Emperor HirohitoFebruary 24, 1989 JapanTokyo~250,000[130]
Ho Chi MinhSeptember 9, 1969 North VietnamHanoi~250,000[131]
Pelé January 2–3, 2023 Brazil Santos ~230,000[132][133]
Wali RahmaniApril 4, 2021 IndiaMunger~200,000−500,000[134][135][136]
Pedro II of BrazilDecember 9, 1891 FranceParis~200,000−300,000[137][138]
Mohammed BurhanuddinJanuary 17, 2014 IndiaRaudat Tahera, Mumbai~200,000[139]
Anton CermakMarch 8–10, 1933 United StatesChicagohundreds of thousands: ~50,000 mourners for return of mayor's remains to city (March 8);[140] ~25,000 spectators at funeral service in Chicago Stadium (March 10);[141] ~50,000 marchers and "hundreds of thousands" of additional mourners at funeral procession (March 10)[142]
Burhan WaniJuly 8, 2016 IndiaPulwama~200,000[143]
Hrant DinkJanuary 23, 2007 TurkeyIstanbul~200,000[144]
Khadim Hussain RizviNovember 21, 2020 PakistanLahore~200,000[145]
Kim Jong-ilDecember 28, 2011 North KoreaPyongyang~200,000[146]
Paul von HindenburgAugust 6–7, 1934 Nazi GermanyTannenberg Memorial, Hohenstein in Ostpreußen~200,000[147](via radio, not television) at least 1,000,000[148]
Wilhelm IMarch 12–16, 1888 German EmpireBerlin~200,000[149]
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl LiebknechtJune 13, 1919 Weimar RepublicBerlin~200,000[150]
Huey LongSeptember 12, 1935 United StatesBaton Rouge~200,000[151]
Jānis ČaksteMarch 18, 1927 LatviaRīga~200,000[152]
Rafic Hariri February 16, 2005 Lebanon Beirut ~200,000[153]
Pope Benedict XVI January 5, 2023 Vatican City Rome ~200,000[154]
Roman DmowskiJanuary 7, 1939 PolandWarsaw~200,000[155]
Zoran ĐinđićMarch 15, 2003 FR YugoslaviaBelgrade~200,000[156][157]
Imre Nagy (reburial)June 16, 1989 HungaryBudapest~150,000−250,000[158]
Yaakov Yisrael KanievskyAugust 12, 1985 IsraelBnei Brak~150,000−250,000[159][160]
Halid BešlićOctober 13, 2025 Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo~150,000[161]over 1,000,000
Lech and Maria KaczyńskiApril 18, 2010 PolandKraków~150,000[162]~13,000,000[163]
Abraham LincolnApril 19 – May 3, 1865 United StatesEast and Midwest~150,000[164]N/a
Corazon AquinoAugust 1–5, 2009 PhilippinesManila Cathedral and Manila Memorial Park – Sucat, Metro Manila~122,000 (August 3 figures only)[165]
Stefan WyszyńskiMay 31, 1981 Polish People's RepublicWarsaw~120,000−500,000[166]
Moshe FeinsteinMarch 24, 1986 United StatesNew York City and Israel~120,000−400,000[167][168][169][170]
Ronald ReaganJune 7, 2004 United StatesSimi Valley, California and Washington, D.C.~104,684[171]35,700,000[172]
Otto von HabsburgJuly 16, 2011 AustriaVienna~101,000[173]413,000–557,000[174]
Uğur Mumcu January 27, 1993 Turkey Istanbul ~100,000−150,000[175]
Aleksandar RankovićAugust 22, 1983 YugoslaviaBelgrade~100,000[176][177][178]
Alparslan Türkeş April 8, 1997 Turkey Ankara ~100,000[179]
Kostis Palamas February 12, 1943 Greece Athens ~100,000[180]
Édith PiafOctober 11, 1963 FrancePère Lachaise Cemetery, Paris~100,000[181][182]
Bob MarleyMay 21, 1981 JamaicaKingston~100,000[183]
Bobby SandsMay 7, 1981 UKBelfast~100,000[184]
Henry GeorgeOctober 29, 1897 United StatesNew York City~100,000[185]
Lee Kuan YewMarch 23–29, 2015 SingaporeMandai~100,000 (funeral cortege)[186][187]
Lorenzo BandiniMay 10, 1967 ItalyReggiolo~100,000[188]
Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu June 24, 2022 Turkey Istanbul ~100,000[189]
Muhammad Ali (memorial service)June 10, 2016 United StatesLouisville, Kentucky[190]~100,000 (funeral procession)
15,000 (memorial service)[191]		1,000,000,000[192]
Robert MenziesMay 19, 1978 AustraliaMelbourne~100,000[193]
Turgut Özal April 21, 1993[194] Turkey Ankara ~100,000[195]
Gianni AgnelliJanuary 26, 2003 ItalyTurin~10,000[196]
~100,000 paid their respects while he laid in state[197]
Yahya AyyashJanuary 6, 1996 PalestineGaza~100,000[198]
Yisroel Avrohom PortugalApril 2, 2019 United StatesBrooklyn, New York City~100,000[199]
Zubayer Ahmad AnsariApril 18, 2020 BangladeshBrahmanbaria~100,000[200]
Bhupen Hazarika November 9-5, 2011 India Guwahati ~100,000[201]
Joel Teitelbaum August 20, 1979 United States Kiryas Joel ~100,000[202]
Simcha Bunim Alter June 8, 1992 Israel Mount of Olives ~100,000[203]
Elvis PresleyAugust 16–18, 1977 United StatesMemphis~75,000[204]
Charlie KirkSeptember 21, 2025 United StatesGlendale~90,000−200,000[205][206][207]
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez April 3, 1995 United States Corpus Christi, Texas ~60,000[208]
Juliana of the Netherlands March 30, 2004 Netherlands Delft ~60,000[209]

Also, 50,000 people paid their respects at the coffin while Juliana laid in state prior to the funeral.[210]

 3,246,000[211]
Richard NixonApril 26–27, 1994 United StatesRichard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California~54,00028,300,000[212]
Jaime Garzón August 14, 1999 Colombia Bogotá ~50,000[213]
Yisrael Alter February 21, 1977 Israel Mount of Olives ~50,000[214]
Meir Shapiro October 29, 1933 Poland Lublin ~50,000[215]
André Hazes September 27, 2004 Netherlands Amsterdam ~48,000[216] 6,000,000 (5 million in the Netherlands and 1 million in Belgium)[217][218]
Gershon AgronNovember 2, 1959 IsraelJerusalem~40,000[219][220]
Ozjasz ThonNovember 12, 1936 PolandKraków~30,000[221]
Ludwig van BeethovenMarch 29, 1827 Austrian EmpireVienna~20,000[222]
Rico Yan April 4, 2002 Philippines Manila Memorial Park – Sucat, Parañaque ~20,000[223]
Moshe Teitelbaum August 25, 2006 United States Willamsburg and Kiryas Joel ~20,000[224]
Aharon Rokeach August 18, 1957 Israel Har HaMenuchot ~20,000[225]
Michael Jackson (memorial service)July 7, 2009 United StatesStaples Center, Los Angeles~17,500[226]3,000,000,000[227][228]
Hank WilliamsJanuary 4, 1960 United StatesMontgomery~15,000−25,000[229]
John GarfieldMay 23, 1952 United StatesNew York~10,000[230][231]
Kahlil Gibran August 21, 1931 Lebanon Beirut & Bsharri ~10,000[232][233]
Rudolph ValentinoAugust 30, 1926 United StatesNew York City~10,000[234]
Wisława SzymborskaFebruary 9, 2012 PolandKraków~8,000−10,000[235][236]
Czesław MiłoszAugust 27, 2004 PolandKraków~7,000−10,000[237][238]
Ömer Halisdemir July 17, 2016 Turkey Çukurkuyu, Niğde ~5,000[239][240]
Dursun Karataş August 11, 2008 Turkey Istanbul ~5,000[241]
Gerald FordDecember 30, 2006 – January 3, 2007 United StatesWashington, D.C., and Grand Rapids, Michigan~3,700[242]15,000,000[212]
Cecilia GentiliJanuary 31, 1972 – February 6, 2024 United StatesNew York City~1,400[243]
Wojciech JaruzelskiMay 30, 2014 PolandWarsaw~1,000−2,000[244][245]
Bhumibol AdulyadejOctober 26, 2017 ThailandBangkok~1,000[246](state funeral) at least 1,000,000[246]
George H. W. BushDecember 3–6, 2018 United StatesWashington, D.C. and Houston, Spring, & College Station, Texas~1,000[247]17,500,000[212]
Lata MangeshkarFebruary 6, 2022 IndiaMumbai~1,000[248]
Margaret ThatcherApril 17, 2013 United KingdomLondon~1,000[249]at least 4,000,000[250]
Pierre TrudeauOctober 3, 2000 CanadaMontreal~1,000[251]
Krzysztof KrawczykApril 10, 2021 PolandGrotniki~1,000[252]
Pim Fortuyn May 10, 2002 Netherlands Driehuis ~800 (at service)

Tens of thousands of people paid their respects at the coffin while Fortuyn laid in state.
Thousands stood along the route during the procession to the cemetery.[253]

 2,000,000[254]
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