Sacred Spaces

I make a concerted effort to visit sacred spaces like mosques, temples, churches, and synagogues during my travels.  I think there are a few reasons.

1. Humans take special care to construct their sacred spaces.  While many buildings are constructed without extensive thought, humans usually exert their strongest creative effort into designing their sacred spaces, with the result often being an extraordinary visual experience.

2. I find it a great learning experience to observe how humans use sacred spaces to honor their conception of the transcendent. Watching humans use architecture and space, as well as ritual, to install meaning in their lives provides valuable insight into what makes us human and what distinguishes various cultures and religions from each other.

3. I also feel an affinity for sacred spaces because they often serve as a rare sanctuary from the intrusions of modern life and the profane.  This function of sacred places can give them a spiritual value beyond their specific religious functions.

The two sacred spaces I visited in Surabaya are the Cheng Hoo Mosque and the Sanggar Agung Tridharma Temple.  (Tridharma is defined as that which is common to adherents of the three Chinese Popular religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.)  Both are very modern sacred spaces constructed early in the 21st Century.  The other similarity both spaces share is that they liberally blend Indonesian or Chinese architectural styles, outside of the conventional, with their more traditionally historic elements.  

Cheng Hoo Mosque is dedicated to Muhammad Cheng Hoo, the great Chinese Muslim navigator and explorer who expanded trade across the known world in the 14th Century and brought Islam to various regions.  He is especially revered because he worked to unite followers of all prominent religions of the time and because he took special care to refrain from persecuting anyone with different beliefs.  The Cheng Hoo Mosque is important because its architectural form celebrates Cheng Hoo's Chinese heritage and because it uses elements from other religions to emphasize the harmony that has historically existed in various times and places between religions.  For example, the main entry door is constructed to represent the architectural style of Christian church doors to symbolize Islam's acceptance of Christian history and tradition.

The Sanggar Agung temple is similar in that it supplements its Chinese architecture with Balinese and Javanese elements to demonstrate the place of Indonesia within these Chinese traditional belief systems. 

Because of their ecumenical and pluralistic design, as well as their intrinsic beauty, these two sacred places represent the positive impact these spaces can potentially have in modern society.




Large dragon figures fronting the depictions of the seven Chinese deities at Sanggar Agung Temple.




The full depiction of the Chinese deities along the Surabaya harbor front.  Notice the giant sculpture of Guan Yin that dominates the work.  She is the Buddhist bodhisattva associated with compassion.




Main altar inside Sanggar Agung.



Taoist symbolism graces the entrance to the Sanggar Agung Temple.  Notice the Indonesian architectural elements that form the essence of this Chinese religious temple.




Cheng Hoo Mosque, with its Chinese interpretation of mosque architecture.







Inside the mosque, looking up toward the ceiling dome.



Approximately 1000 worshippers can be accommodated outside the mosque during prayers.

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