Demak Great Mosque ( id, Masjid Agung Demak, Pegon: مَسْجِد اَڮَوڠ دَمَق) is one of the oldest

mosques in Indonesia This is a list of mosques in Indonesia. The Indonesian term ''Masjid Agung'' is translated as "Great Mosque", while ''Masjid Raya'' is translated as "Grand Mosque." ''Masjid Keramat'' is translated as "Holy Mosque." ''Masjid Jami'' is translated ...

, located in the center town of Demak,

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. The mosque is believed to be built by the ''Wali Songo'' ("Nine Muslim Saints") with the most prominent figure

Sunan Kalijaga Sunan Kalijaga (1460-1513), born as Raden Mas Said son of a Duke of Tuban in East Java, Indonesia, was one of the "nine saints" of Javanese Islam (Wali Sanga). the "Kalijaga" title was derived from an orchard known as "Kalijaga" in Cirebon. O ...

, during the first

Demak Sultanate The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded i ...

ruler, Raden Patah during the 15th century.

Features

Although it has had a number of renovations, it is thought to be largely in its original form. It is a classic example of a traditional Javanese

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. Unlike mosques in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

it is built from

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

. Rather than a dome, which did not appear on Indonesian mosques until the 19th century, the

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of t ...

is tiered and supported by four saka guru teak pillars. The tiered roof shows many similarities with wooden religious structures from the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

civilizations of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

. The main entrance of Masjid Agung Demak consists of two

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

s carved with motifs of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

s and an animal head with an open wide-toothed mouth. It is said that picture depicts the manifested

thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

caught by Ki Ageng Selo, hence their name ''Lawang Bledheg'' (the doors of thunder). Like other mosques of its era, its orientation towards

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

is only approximate.

Carving and historical relics

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De moskee van Demak TMnr 10016515

Its walls contain

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

ese ceramics. With their shapes derived from conventions of Javanese woodcarving and brickwork, they are thought to have been specially ordered. The use of ceramic rather than stone is thought to have been in imitation of the mosques of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Gallery

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De moskee van Demak TMnr 10016515.jpg, Masjid Agung Demak, end of 19th century File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De moskee van Demak TMnr 60054754.jpg, 1920-1939 File:Masjid Agung Demak.jpg, August 2016 File:Menara_Masjid_Agung_Demak.jpg,

Minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

, August 2016

References

{{Mosques in Indonesia Demak Regency Mosques in Indonesia Religious buildings and structures in Central Java Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Central Java Religious buildings and structures completed in 1479 Demak

Features

Carving and historical relics

Gallery

See also

References