The splendor of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is one of the grandest mosques located in Kampung Baru Village, Baiturrahman District, Banda Aceh City. The people of Aceh use this mosque as a place of worship and a symbol of Islam. The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was founded by Sultan Alauddin Mahmud Syah in 1292 AD. Until now, it is still intact and comprehensive, the changes that have taken place and being able to see its beauty is extraordinary.

The city center of Banda Aceh which consists of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a symbol of religion, culture, spirit, strength, struggle and nationalism of the Acehnese people. This mosque is a landmark of the city of Banda Aceh, very beautiful

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque At first, Baiturrahman Grand Mosque only had one dome and one minaret. New additional domes and minarets were added in 1935, 1958, and 1982. Currently the Baiturrahman Mosque has 7 domes and 8 minarets, including the tallest in Banda Aceh Darussalam today.

The night atmosphere adorns the lights that glow with reddish and yellowish and greenish colors which are very memorable when visiting the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Mosque is the westernmost province of Indonesia and is located on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. In the province nicknamed Sueramo Mecca or Veranda of Mecca, there is a state mosque right in the heart of Banda Aceh, the seat of the NAD government. Its name is Baiturrahman Grand Mosque and it has become a famous tourist icon in Banda Aceh which is always filled with foreign tourists.

The main building of the mosque has an area of ​​4,000 square meters and was able to accommodate 13,000 worshipers before the pandemic. When an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale was followed by a tsunami wave as high as 20 meters that entered the city center on December 26, 2004 at around 09.00 WIB, this Muslim house of worship became one of the residences for the city's residents. take cover.

At that time thousands of residents survived because they fled to the inside of the mosque even though thousands more were unlucky and died. Not a few of their bodies were found in the front yard of the mosque covered in mud and garbage including the carcass of a motorized vehicle.

The sad story of almost 17 years is slowly starting to be accepted by the people of Aceh. Likewise for the mosque which stands on an area of ​​3 hectares located on Jl Muhammad Jam number 1, Desa Baru, District Baiturrahman. Quickly, this mosque was prepared and became the pride of its citizens as one of the largest places of worship in Sumatra.

Almost 11 years after the earthquake and tsunami, or to be exact on July 28, 2015, the local government made improvements to the mosque's landscape and infrastructure by involving the construction BUMN, PT Waskita Karya. An underground building was made as a parking location for visitors and worshipers with a capacity of 100 four-wheeled vehicles and about 200 two-wheelers. It is located right around the bottom of the Aceh Capital Region Monument, a 51-meter-high tower on the east side of the main mosque building.

Right in the middle of this underground building there is a glass corridor to connect visitors who drive privately to the mosque's courtyard. Most of the walls are made of glass and most of them are covered with shiny ceramics plus gold ornate ornaments.

Near the entrance there are lockers for storage of goods and footwear. The corridor with white and black tiled floors extends approximately 200 meters. There are two points for a modern style ablution area with carved marble floors and walls. At the end of the corridor there are stairs and escalators to take us to the east and south courtyards of the mosque.
The arrangement also touched the floor of the front yard of a stretch of grass that had originally turned into white marble. The expanse of green grass is maintained on several sides, especially around the pond in the middle of the yard. Among the green grass is also planted with beautiful flowering plants of various colors, there are red, white, and yellow. Initially this pool was fortified with an iron fence around it so that it gave a stiff impression.
However, during the renovation, the iron fence was dismantled and its role as a fortress of the pond was replaced with green grass and various ornamental plants. This makes the atmosphere around the pool fresher. The beauty of the pool is increased by dancing fountains with colorful lights from the bottom of the pool.

There are also 12 giant umbrellas in the courtyard, six each on the south side and six on the north side. Installation work was carried out in November 2016. Umbrellas worth Rp. 10 billion per unit installed with a distance between the poles of about 10 meters. Can be opened and closed similar to how umbrellas work like we use. The only difference is that, due to their large stature, the umbrellas are electrically actuated, in three minutes they have inflated.

The process of opening and closing the umbrella is very quiet, there is no sound of the electric engine. This electric umbrella technology was created by German architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch. This umbrella is made of synthetic fiber tarpaulin, a special type of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). This fabric is resistant to ultraviolet rays from the sun, flame retardant, and elastic. This type of fabric is also effective at absorbing sunlight and making the environment more shady.

This white cloth with gold motifs on the edges and bottom is the new attraction of this mosque. Moreover, when it is being developed, the stretch reaches a width of 14 meters. When stretched together, it will make the giant canopy seem to be connected to each other and create a unique silhouette on the floor surface. Enough to shade the area around it when the sun is shining very brightly.

This makes many visitors choose to sit under the giant umbrella of Rasch's craftsmanship. Not a few of them took pictures when the umbrella stretched as high as 20 meters from the floor. In order to stand firm, the umbrella is supported by a white iron pole with a diameter of two meters and a height of 15 meters and five meters above it in the form of an umbrella supporting frame with a smaller iron size.

Between the borders of the cloth supports and the pillars, gold is engraved and on the four sides of the poles are ornaments of lights at night. The light can change color, sometimes purple, green, or yellow and is very bright, enough to illuminate the surrounding area. When the umbrella is closed, it looks like a mosque minaret.

The Grand Mosque is not the first location that this giant umbrella has been installed in Indonesia. The reason is, the Great Mosque of Central Java and the Muammar Qadaffy Mosque in Sentul, West Java, have also been installed earlier. In a much larger number, reaching 250 pieces, this electric Rasch umbrella has been installed at the Prophet's Mosque, Medina City, Saudi Arabia.