The Pangeran Diponegoro Mosque (Jakarta)

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The Pangeran Diponegoro Mosque stands on a 2.850 m2 piece of land, the building space is 760 m2 and consists of 2 floors. The first floor is used for the congregation in praying, wudhu (ritual ablution before praying for Moslems), bathroom, waiting room, library, store-room and kitchen; while the second floor is used for the imam, khatib and mihrap and a 26 m high tower in the form of a dome to reverberate adzan (calling to prayer for Moslems).

The architecture is a copy from the common mosque's architecture in Indonesia like the Al Azhar mosque in Jakarta and the Syuhada mosque in Yogyakarta. It was built in 1973 and officially opened by President Soeharto in 1975. The mosque is named after Pangeran Diponegoro with the consideration to immortalize the name of a national hero as well as a great Moslem leader who together with the Yogyakarta community courageously fought against the Dutch colonialist.

The mosque located in front and on the right hand side of Sasana Kriya and adjacent to the Santa Catharina church - meaning that it is the first of houses of worship from the main gate - is meant as a symbol of harmony among the members of the religious community in Indonesia. The mosque is used to perform daily religious duty, not only for the benefit of people in the surroundings of TMII but also for visitors, either individually or in groups, including for Friday prayers and evening prayers (Tarawih) in the Ramadhan month. However, on Idul Fitri and Idul Adha, the Moslem Celebration Days, the prayers are held outdoor at the Pancasila Flame Monument Plaza.
Religious lectures aiming to increase the knowledge of the attendants or to recall the Moslem's rules in daily life are also held in this mosque.

Besides routine religious activities the Pangeran Diponegoro mosque can also be used for wedding ceremonies, usually followed by a reception. Small and simple reception can be held on the mosque's courtyard whereas the larger one either in Sasono Utomo or Sasono Adiguno at about 100 meters distance from the mosque.

The mosque has no decorative ornaments, the roof is in the form of a dome resembling the Byzantine style and influenced by the ancient Greek structure (Pantheon), meaning that human life is only a very small part of the universe and to seek shelter in it.