Luar Batang Mosque loses original face

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.