Middle Eastern Architectural Inspiration of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Surakarta
During my solotrip to Solo, I visited the largest Grand Mosque in Central Java, which is very majestic and a target for local and national tourists. I visited this mosque on my second day in Solo which was the last day of my visit to the city of inclusion.
SYEIKH ZAYED GRAND MOSQUE, SURAKARTA
It hasn't been too long since the mosque was inaugurated by the then president, Joko Widodo. In the past. Perhaps people in Central Java are more familiar with the Central Java Grand Mosque in Semarang as the largest mosque in Central Java. However, since the construction of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the title as the largest mosque has been replaced by this mosque.
I deliberately visited this mosque close to the time of the noon prayer so that I could go to the main room for prayer which was opened at an hour close to noon.
From the facade, almost all the walls of this mosque are made of white marble. There are three entrances to the courtyard of the mosque, all of which have guards to sort out visitors who bring food to be deposited in the storage area, as well as footwear. In the courtyard, there is an information board about the mosque's operating hours, which open at 4am and close at 10pm.
Some of the prohibitions that should not be done are also written on the board, including: no smoking in the mosque area, no food and drinks, no pets, and most importantly, to keep the mosque area neat and clean, visitors are encouraged not to litter.In this area there is a cupboard used to put visitors' footwear. The iron cupboard is brown in colour.
Then if you are in the first room, visitors can see a mockup of the entire building which is very middle eastern, even according to information, the funds to build this mosque are grants from the president of the United Arab Emirates, Syeik Zayed who also inspired the name. Although the dominant white colour, but combined with the gold colour makes this mosque look elegant and luxurious, there is also a library located on the second floor, but when I visited, the library was resting or temporarily closed.
The spacious hallway of the mosque can also be used for worship during peak times or celebrations. In the inner area, there are also lockers for leaving items, but the inner lockers are small so maybe it's enough to leave only small luggage.
Of course, I couldn't walk around the whole area because it's so vast, so I just wandered around the right side of the hallway until I reached the main area and the wudu and toilets in the basement.
MAIN ROOM FULL OF BATIK
As a national treasure, batik is the focus of the design in this main room. I was so amazed that I didn't expect the design. All the floors are covered with batik-coloured carpets. This is the timeless motif of batik lawasan, I also remember that as a child I had a batik with a similar motif at my mother's house, but to this day, this kind of motif is still a favourite among batik admirers.
There were about two rows of Qur'anic seder placed directly on the support. Not to forget, the ceiling was also given a beautiful batik motif. Well... to be honest, I really like this mosque. And of course, I know why people flock to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, it turns out that it is indeed that beautiful.
So, for you Indonesians, if you are visiting Central Java, stop by this mosque once in a while.
WUDLU PLACE IN BASEMENT
As a mosque that is said to be able to accommodate more than 10,000 congregations, of course the question is, how big is the wudku place provided? What about the toilet? Is it worth it to accommodate 10 thousand worshipers. So here we are...
We have to go down to the basement to reach the wudu, and lo and behold...
Rows of wudlu places with neatly arranged taps, some of which are also accompanied by seats, while for lighting, it is very good here. On the other side there is also a very large row of wash basins, this area is very large, so, the question about whether this is enough if there are 10 thousand worshipers visiting? I would say, yes, it is enough. However, maybe my concern is that the access stairs to this area are a bit narrow, otherwise everything is ok. There are also plenty of toilets, so visitors need not worry.
That was my trip today. Thank you for reading to the end. See you in my next article.
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