Demak Great Mosque : one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia

Demak Great Mosque

Masjid Agung Demak is one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia, located in the center town of Demak, Central Java Indonesia. The mosque is believed to be built by Sunan Kalijaga, one of the Wali Songo (nine Muslim saints) during the 1st Demak Sultanate ruler, Raden Patah during the 15th century.
Although it has had a number of renovations, it is thought to be largely in its original form. The mosque is a classic example of a traditional Javanese mosque. Unlike mosques in the Middle East it is built from timber. Rather than a dome, which didn't appear on Indonesian mosques until the 19th century, the roof is tiered and supported by four saka guru teak pillars. The tiered roof shows many similarities with wooden religious structures from the Hindu-Buddhist civilizations of Java and Bali. The main entrance of Masjid Agung Demak consists of two doors carved with motifs of plants, vases, crowns and an animal head with an open wide-toothed mouth. It is said that picture depicts the manifested thunder caught by Ki Ageng Selo, hence their name “Lawang Bledheg”.

Like other mosques of towards Mecca is only

its era, its orientation approximate.

Its walls contain Vietnamese 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.

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