Well for me who grew up as a Catholic, I have no idea when I was drew into this topic. I did not know what is it about and how it goes, not to mention the design principle of islamic architecture. What came across my mind was the only three magnificent and splendid mosques as listed below:
1) City Mosque, Kota Kinabalu
2) Putra Mosque, Putrajaya
3) National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur
I was totally impressed and intrigued by their detailing design when I was given a chance to analyze these mosques for my past few assignments. I almost lost my breathe of seeing the details of craftsmanship and carefully-made inscription as well as their spatial layout plan. Everything was came in package with a superb strong cultural and religious background which was not be able to understand by the outsiders like me.
Zooming in to these mosques, what I had observed on the City Mosque was that it was called by the tourist as "a floating mosque" because it was built at the edge of seawater pond, providing an illusion of the mosque that it was actually floating if viewed from far.
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| Photo credits to lantaw, image source from http://www.lantaw.com/2013/09/sabah-masjid-bandar-kota-kinabalu-sunrise.html |
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| Dome of the City Mosque, image source from http://www.sabahtourism.com/sabah-malaysian-borneo/en/destination/97-sabah-state-mosque/ |
City Mosque is the largest commendable mosque that situates in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It posses a similar feature to the Nabawi Mosque in Medina and this mosque can actually accommodate up to 12000 users at time. With its grandiose dome and striking gold inlay motifs, the mosque sits a stone's throw away from the city centre. It is a unique amalgamation of dominant islamic architecture and contemporary design. For more information on this mosque, feel free to click on this website: http://gogosabah.com/kk-city-mosque/
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While for Putra Mosque, for me I would think that it is a beautiful place for worship. As I was saying that I was super curious on how the mosque look inside, Putra Mosque indeed satisfy my inquisitiveness since it is opened to non-Muslims at a specific period. The pink color of the mosque stands itself out from the rest and sits magnificently on the soil of Putrajaya. It is also constructed near to a man-made Putrajaya Lake and built with an ionic minaret of 116 meters, which is said to be the tallest in Southeast Asia. The mosque design that involves the combination of Malaysian, Persian and Arab architecture certainly brought a huge response in attracting tourist and outsiders from the other countries. For more info, check this link out as well: http://www.riseap.org/2010/09/07/putra-mosque-kuala-lumpur/
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| Putra Mosque, image source from http://www.noupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/mosques35.jpg |
Last but not least, the National Mosque that situated in Kuala Lumpur. It is one of my favorite among all as it shows a step-up evolution in its islamic architectural design. The feature of a multi fold "semi-opened blue umbrella" roof strikes an extraordinary uniqueness if compared to mosques with the traditional onion shaped domes and it is said to be the symbol of the aspiration of freshly independent Malaysia. Besides, it also holds a capacity up to 15000 people and constructed with a featured minaret of 75 meters. Reflecting pools and fountains were built as well to minimize heat gain which is in response to Malaysia's climate. For more info, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mosque_of_Malaysia.
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| National Mosque, image source from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/National_Mosque_KL_2007_pano.jpg |
Lastly, I would like to conclude that islamic architecture in my eyes are the creative architectural artwork that given to Muslim. They use it to serve as a community place and a place to worship as well as a place to dwell in the presence of the God. Undeniably, I paid a huge respect on their craftsmanship together with the glorious architectural design, which had indeed brought Malaysia into another next level.
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