Luar Batang Mosque loses original face

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

There is little left of the original architecture of the over 200-year-old Luar Batang Mosque in Penjaringan subdistrict, North Jakarta, as continuing renovation work has changed the face of the mosque.

Heritage lovers are concerned about the changes. They say the city administration is doing nothing to preserve the mosque, which was constructed in 1739 in a combination of European and Hindu architectural styles.

"The city administration has violated its own regulations because the renovation work has totally changed the original face of the building," said Hardini Sumono, head of preservation at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"It is not a renovation. They are building a new mosque on the former site of the Luar Batang Mosque, which was declared by the administration itself as a heritage site," she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Hardini was referring to Gubernatorial Decree No. 475/1993, which designated a number of historic buildings in the city protected national heritage sites, including the Luar Batang Mosque.

The main part of the mosque was completely changed in the first phase of the renovation, which was completed in 1995. The original color and materials of its floor, walls and roof are all gone. The only part of the building that has been preserved are the 12 pillars, which serve a purely ornamental function.

Now the front part of the mosque is being renovated in work that began last September and will be completed in June.

Candrian Attahiyyat, head of the supervision division at the Jakarta Culture and Museum Agency, claimed it was impossible to preserve the original features of the mosque. He said it had to be demolished because the floor level needed to be raised by about 1.5 meters to avoid flooding.

He, however, stressed that his office had done its best to maintain those parts of the building that could be saved, and that the renovation had been approved by the Renovation Supervisory Team, which was authorized to supervise the work.

Ahmad Migad, a consultant hired by the administration to oversee the renovation, said local residents would have renovated the mosque without any consideration for the building's historic aspects if the administration had not stepped in and taken over the project.

Hardini, however, reprimanded the administration for not doing everything in its power to preserve the original features of the mosque, saying it would not have been necessary to raise the floor if the mosque had been fitted with a proper drainage system.

She also expressed anger over what she called the developer's negligent handling of teak logs removed from the mosque during renovation. The logs will be integrated into the renovated building.

"Some of the details on the logs have been damaged because they were carelessly stored," she said.

The mosque was ordered built by Sayid Husein bin Abubakar Alaydrus, who received a gift of 4,000 meters of land in Luar Batang from the Dutch colonial authorities.

The graves of Husein and his student Abdul Kadir bin Adam in the mosque's yard are considered sacred sites by visitors. Many believe that their wishes will be granted if they pray at the graves.

Visitors come from around Java and Sumatra to see the mosque and pray there.