1. History

Baiturrahman Grand mosque has a long history. Understanding its history very well, one may also understand the historic life of the Acehneeses.

According to history, the mosque was established in the time of rule of Sultan Iskandar Muda in Aceh kingdom (1607-1636 CE). But the mosque was burned in the period of Sultan Nurul Alam (1675-1678 CE), and it was then rebuilt on the previous location.

During the Dutch colonialist period, the mosque, alongside as a place of prayer, was also used as a center of defense in fighting the colonialist. The last function can be seen clearly in the period of Sultan Alaiddin Mahmud Syah (1870-1874 CE). In the meantime, the mosque was often used as a place where the Acehneeses gathered for organizing some military strategies to fight the colonialist.

Due to its strategic function, the mosque was, more often than not, selected as the main target of attack. On April 10, 1873, the mosque was successfully occupied by the colonialist and half of its building was burned. On April 14 1873 CE, a battle broke out again, in which the Mayor General J.H.R. Kohler and 400 Dutch troops were killed, and the mosque was then totally under the control of the Acehneeses.

The last defeat urged the colonialist to prepare much bigger number of troops supplied with modern destructive weapons. On January 6, 1874, a brutal attack of revenge done by the colonialist broke out in the region. Although the Acehneeses struggled hardly to protect their own rights, the colonialist defeated them and seized the mosque. In the time, not only had the mosque been seized, but also brutally burned to not leave one piece of its building. Such immoral action raised a rage among the Acehneeses. Realizing the danger, the General Governor of the Dutch colonialist, J. W. van Lansberge, then visited Aceh and promised to rebuild the burned mosque.

Being witnessed by the Military Governor of the Dutch united east India in Aceh, G. J. van der Heijden, Tengku Malikul Adil was commissioned to put a cornerstone of the construction on October 9, 1879.  The reconstruction completed and was formally opened on December 27, 1881 CE.

2. Location

The Baiturrahman grand mosque lays in the middle of Banda Aceh city. Initially, the city was named Kuta Raja.

3. Measure

The mosque can accommodate 1900 worshippers.

4. Architecture

The mosque appears with an eclectic architecture, in which various elements and designs from many countries mixed to create a luxurious building. Located at the middle of a large open space, the mosque‘s beautiful appearance can be seen from many sides, even from distant places.

A gate stands at the first part of the building, and sticks to the first unite. A rectangular verandah lays behind the gate. Stairs at front, left and right side of the verandah are built to be similar to U alphabet. In addition, three undoored entrances are placed in front of the stairs, formed by four thin cylinder columns as the Moorish architectural feature that are mostly found at the mosques in north Africa and Spain. Each column is connected with Persian arch model. It means that the four columns need three similar arches. Curved relieves that resemble Arabesque design feature are carved on the arches and at their sides. Storeyed tympanums that resemble stairs are also placed on the arches. This ornamentation is influenced by a characteristic design feature of Dutch classic house. A miniature of grave house decorated its top with a small dome are placed at every rank. Such ornamentation reflects the influence of India architectural style. Therefore, as described above, the eclectic architecture appears at the outside part of the mosque. Both left and right side of the verandah have two columns connected by one arch that similar to that of other arches.

At the inside part, the main room is performed beautifully. But before entering it, one may see the same columns and arches at its front. The undoored arches are seems to be the characteristic design feature of the ancient mosques in India. Meanwhile, the main room is shaped square, covered by main luxurious dome which is designed as onion with a pin like pinnacle surmounting the dome. Such architectural style is influenced by that of the ancient mosques in India. The octahedral columns that support the dome have, at each side, one set of window decorated with arch. At the lowest part of the columns, there is octadic circles. As regard the main room, it has a pair of wing at the right and left side that make the building symmetric. Two tiered pyramidal roof locates high above the floor. The influence of Moorish appears throughout the painstaking and intricates ornaments on the mosque‘s windows.

5. Planning

The architect of the mosque was a Dutch army engineer, de Bruijn. In determining the mosque architecture, he initially consulted to both Snouck Hurgronje and the head of mosque in Bandung city.

6. Renovation

As mentioned above, the mosque had been reconstructed for several times due to war and fire. The original mosque was not how we see it today. The mosque was constructed by the Dutch colonialist to replace the previous burned building after their success of defeating the Acehneeses.

Over the following years, the grand mosque was renovated to perfection. From 1935 to 1936, two domes were added on both the mosque‘s wings.

In 1957, two same buildings built at left and right side of the mosque. Each building has a dome. Therefore the mosque now has five domes in total that symbolize the number of the Islamic principles. Although the new buildings had been added, the mosque construction is still symmetric, particularly if it is seen from the front side.

Additionally, two minarets were also built at northwest and southwest side of the mosque. The unique shape of the main dome is repeated at the two domes of those octahedral minarets. However, all added buildings are constructed in a fashion suitable with other previous elements to keep its original design.

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