Baiturrahman Grand Mosque - a Historic Building as an Islamic Tourist Destination in Aceh, Indonesia

Hi trvavelfeed friends, wherever you are, it has been a few weeks that I have not written about tourist attractions that I recommend to you if you want to visit Indonesia, or more precisely in Aceh province, 5 hours of air travel if you depart from the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta . and only 1 hour if you get off from the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport Banda Aceh.

This tourist destination that I will write about is one of the many tourist destinations in Banda Aceh, because Banda Aceh in particular is one of the areas famous for Islamic law. Banda Aceh is also known as the Veranda of Mecca. Now friends, the place I want to tell you about is the "Baiturrahman Grand Mosque" from its name, maybe you can already guess that this place is so sacred because besides being used as a place of worship for the Acehnese people, it is also used as an Islamic tourist spot. Is it true? let's see some of my explanations.

The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is one of the many mosques built in the city of Banda Aceh, but the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque has a very large history, because the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque has been around since before the Dutch colonial era in Aceh. According to the wikipedia source that I quoted :

According to the history of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda (1612), part of the opinion says that if it was built during the reign of Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah (1292) the roof building of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was originally a pile of straw in layers. 

The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is also used as a historical tourist destination by some people, because historically the Baiturrahman Raya Mosque is a symbol of the Acehnese people's struggle to drive out colonialism, the Acehnese people use the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque as a battle fort. According to the source that i quoted from wikipedia mention if :

The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was burned down during the Dutch colonial period (April 10, 1873) until the Aceh war broke out and killed Major General Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler on (April 14, 1873). but to ease the anger of the Acehnese people, the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was rebuilt as an apology for General Van Der Heijden's request (9 October 1879) with a Dutch architect named Gerrit Bruins, the design was later adapted by L.P. Luijks, who also oversaw the construction work carried out by contractor Lie A Sie with the design chosen was a Mughal revival style, characterized by a large dome with spiers.

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During the Covid-19 pandemic the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was temporarily closed to the public, because they had to comply with the health protocols set by the Aceh government in particular, and the Indonesian government in general. Now it's a year since the Covid-19 pandemic and the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque has been reopened to the public, for those of you who want to visit to see the beauty of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, I recommend visiting in the afternoon, between 16:00 and 18:00 or if you are lucky then you can watch the sunset from the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque.

For travelfeed friends who want to visit the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, it is not free of charge, 100% free. Because it is located in the center of Banda Aceh, you don't need to worry, you just need to walk around the mosque. To enter the mosque there are no conditions, you only need to wear closed clothes, for women you can wear a head covering (headscarf) or if male visitors have to wear pants that cross the knees, it's very easy right?

There are many tourists from abroad who have visited the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, I had time to ask if they felt peace when visiting this mosque, even though they were not Muslims, but the extraordinary sense of brotherhood from the Acehnese people made them feel at home visiting here.

Well, sahaba travelfeed, if you are interested in visiting the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, maybe you can contact me as a guide as well as a chat, I will be a very pleasant friend :) Until here, travelfeed friends, on the next opportunity I will explain back unique tourist attractions in the city of Banda Aceh, maybe like the tsunami museum, or the Dutch cemetery. see you in the next post travelfeed greetings. Thank you for attention, and see you later.   

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