Istiqlal Mosque (Masjid Istiqlal)

About The Masjid Istiqlal

The Istiqlal Mosque/Masjid Istiqlal (The Independence Mosque) is the Mosque of the National Of Republic Indonesia which located in Central Jakarta with the Grand Imam is Prof. Dr. Kyai Haji Nasaruddin Umar and the Chairman of the Executing Agency for administrator of Masjid Istiqlal is Muhammad Muzammil Basyuni . This national mosque of Indonesia was built to commemorate Indonesian independence and named “Istiqlal”, an Arabic word for “independence”. The mosque was opened to the public 22 February 1978. Within Jakarta, the mosque is positioned next to Merdeka Square and the Jakarta Cathedral.

History

After the war of independence, Indonesia start developing the big ideas to establish a national mosque. The idea of building a mosque comes after four years of the proclamation of independence. The idea of building a state mosque is in line with the tradition of the Indonesian nation since the days of the ancient royal never built a monumental religious buildings symbolizing the triumph of the state. For example, at the time of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Indonesia has been successfully built the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. So on the independence of Indonesia rises idea of building a grand mosque is a magnificent and worthy of the title as a mosque, the largest Muslim country in the world.

The Construction of the mosque was initiated by the First President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Soekarno where erection of the first stone, mark as the beginning of construction of the Istiqlal Mosque conducted by Ir. Sukarno on August 24, 1951. The architect of Istiqlal Mosque was Frederich Silaban, a Protestant Christian.

Location and The Style Of The Building

The location of this mosque complex is located on the former Wilhelmina Park, in northeast field Merdeka adjoining stand Monumen Nasional (Monas). Across the east of this mosque stands the Cathedral Church Jakarta. The address of Masjid Istiqlal is Taman Wijaya Kusuma Street, Ps. Baru, Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Pos Code. 10710, Indonesia.

The main building of this mosque consists of five floors and one ground floor. The mosque has a modern architectural style with the walls and marble floors, decorated with geometric ornaments from stainless steel.

The main building of the mosque is crowned a large dome diameter of 45 meters which is supported by 12 large pillars. Single tower towering as high as a total of 96.66 meters in the southern corner of the hall of the mosque. The mosque is able to accommodate more than two hundred thousand pilgrims.