Old Shrines of Jakarta

Old temples, mosques and churches are dotted across Jakarta, some retaining their original architecture, most having undergone imprudent renovation. TEMPO retraces the origins of Jakarta’s old houses of worship, examines the work of historian Adolf Heuken in the area, and draws attention to the need for better conservation programs.

THE old house looks more like a vihara than a church. The two ends of the red roof curve sharply upward. Two baogushi (stone lions), one male, one female, stand guard on the terrace, Chinese motifs carved on the front door.

If one recognizes the house in the city’s Chinatown district of Glodok as a church, it’s because of a large cross perched on the rooftop and the words Gereja Katolik St. Maria de Fatima inscribed on the main door. Or perhaps because of a bell tower decorated with a tiny statue of Jesus, while a replica of the Virgin Mary in white stands in the inner yard.

Here is an old, unique church, originally the house of a Chinese nobleman. Built in the Fukien architectural style of South China, the house was used by Chinese Catholics at the beginning of the 19th century for mass services. As the traditional house of a Chinese nobleman, it consists of three buildings set in a row. Between the first and main building and the second building is an open space where the family would have prayed. After the house was bought by the church, this space was turned into the church altar.

Three books published recently by Yayasan Cipta Loka Caraka, a private foundation dedicated to the preservation of old buildings in Jakarta, are replete with stories on the origin of many of the old churches, temples, and mosques of Jakarta. The books published by the foundation, established by Father Adolf Heuken, S.J., are Gereja-Gereja Tua di Jakarta (Old Churches of Jakarta) and Mesjid-Mesjid Tua di Jakarta (Old Mosques of Jakarta) and Kelenteng-Kelenteng dan Masyarakat Tionghoa (Chinese Temples and Community). The first two books were written by Heuken, and the third by two French scholars, Denys Lombard and Claude Salmon, a book first published in 1985.

The books retrace the origins of most of the old mosques, temples and churches built in Jakarta from the 17th century, providing a detailed account not only of the ornaments decorating the houses of worship but also of the different architectural styles of the buildings. Lombard, for instance, describes the different iconographic images found in the Chinese temples in Jakarta. He began research on the city’s kelenteng in 1966, the year the Indonesian Government broke diplomatic relations with China after the failed alleged communist coup the previous year and launched a campaign of assimilation, banning Chinese rituals and closing Chinese schools. Lombard, therefore, had no first-hand experience watching the city’s temples in their days of glory.

Still, the book written by Lombard serves as a seminal guide for whoever wishes to retrace the origin of the many temples in Jakarta, including a detailed description of the deities and unique character of each of them. Lombard also analyzed the state of the city’s temples under the New Order. "After G30S (the failed coup) all kelentengs were united with the vihara with a damaging effect on the architecture of the building. Political intervention added to the damage," said Chaksana Said, a University of Indonesia archeologist.

Lombard’s extensive knowledge of temples in Jakarta is recognized by Husein, a senior administrator of Wihara Dharma Widjaya, a temple on Jalan Kemenangan III in Central Jakarta. One day in the 1980s, recalled Husein, a tourist visited the temple, one of the oldest in Jakarta. He seemed very knowledgeable about the kelenteng which was built in 1751. Walking toward the left side of the building, he knocked on the wall. "Here’s the inscriptions," he said pointing to one part of the wall. "And here too," he continued pointing to the altar. "Under the putty you will find Chinese calligraphy written on the wall," he added.

Temple assistants who accompanied Lombard on a tour of the temple were surprised and curious. Who was this man who seemed to know more about the kelenteng than the resident experts?

"At first I wasn’t convinced of this man," said Husein, a respected elder at the kelenteng. But he soon changed his mind when the stranger produced an illustrated book in Dutch about the kelenteng. After the man left, Husein and his assistants knocked on the wall and carefully pried loose the putty. Behind the putty the inscriptions on the wall were revealed, as the stranger had told them. Turning to the altar and again carefully scratching the table top, they found the same inscriptions. "We scratched the top of the table very carefully," said Husein. The men did not continue, afraid of damaging the table. They called for a Chinese carving expert from a kelenteng in Semarang, Central Java.

For two weeks the carver from Semarang worked removing the putty from the wall and the altar. "There we saw the Chinese calligraphy," said Husein. Husein and his assistants only vaguely remembered the stranger who introduced himself as Mr Lombard from France. Only later in the 1990s did Husein come to know the man as Doctor Denys Lombard, a well-known Sinologue.

Both Heuken’s and Lombard’s books lay emphasis on the fact that most of the old houses of worship in Jakarta have endured uncontrolled renovation. Continued growth in the number of worshippers has necessitated expansion of the places of worship. The Prophet’s Mosque in Medina has experienced a growing number of pilgrims on the annual haj, necessitating such expansion. In many places of worship, expansion has been at the expense of the buildings with historical value.

"Places of worship are given priority for renovation. Since the old buildings are a common heritage of every one of us, any plan for renovation should be discussed with the city government," said Husnizon Nizar, Head of the Jakarta Historical and Archeological Office. Still, many renovation works have been carried out without proper management and coordination.
The Angke or al-Anwar Mosque in Tambora, West Jakarta is such an example. The mosque is a product of acculturation, one of the most beautiful examples of its size in Jakarta. According to mosque administrator Supriatna, al-Anwar was built by a Chinese woman—a Muslim from Tartar who married a Bantenese. In its time, the mosque was located in an area inhabited by many communities, Chinese, Balinese and Bantenese. Little wonder the mosque is a combination of such diverse architectural elements. The floor plan is specifically Javanese, the carvings are Chinese, the window and door frames Dutch, and the punggel Balinese.

To accommodate overflowing worshippers for Friday prayers, an additional building was constructed which also serves as a Qur’anic learning centre, and circumcision and wedding venue. Construction was financed by the city government, including the purchase of a water pump and the building of an iron fence. The additional building, however, was located right in front of the mosque, thereby obstructing part of the mosque from view.
The Kebon Jeruk Mosque on Jalan Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta suffered a similar fate. To meet the need for more space for worshippers, office administration and a dormitory, additional buildings have been constructed in a patchwork fashion, each competing for a higher floor level than the other. What is left of the original mosque is only the limasan-style roofs and a 10x10-meter space for prayer under the mosque dome. All original tiles on the walls have been removed.

Nothing remains of the original backyard, now a two-story building housing the dormitory and administration office. The Kebon Jeruk Mosque has been the headquarters of Jammaah Tabligh, an Islamic propagation center since the 1940s. Recently, Arab, Bangladeshi and local preachers have found quarters in the mosque. A minaret that once stood at the back of the mosque is gone.
The Gereja Katolik St. Maria de Fatima, in the city’s Chinatown district of Glodok, was also subject to renovation from 1999 to 2002. This saw the inner part of the temple expanded to enable the church to accommodate up to 700 worshipers. The floors are now covered with shiny brown and red marble tiles. The renovation raised the floor of the veranda 40 centimeters, the inner part 10 centimeters and the altar 10 centimeters higher than the road outside in anticipation of the annual flooding in the area. But higher floors resulted in the lowering of the ceiling from a height of four to just three meters. Worse, most of the timber used in the renovation work is prone to termite damage.

"After renovation, we found many wooden parts had been eaten by termites. In the past no such thing happened. I suspect the termites originate from the woods used in the renovation work," said Yusup Tujiyana, catechist of the parish. To treat the termite problem, the church then fumigated the entire building at a cost of Rp14 million.

The Luar Batang Mosque in northern Jakarta similarly undertook renovations in a bid to fend off annual flooding. The floors of the mosque, located close to the shore, were raised to a level higher than the water at high tide, which on many occasions reached knee height. When the tiles eventually proved to be too fragile, the floor was rendered with earth and mortar, leaving only the ponds and old beams in the ceiling in their original state.

"Each renovation should be preceded by a study to determine which parts of the building should be preserved," said Wisnu Muntiardjo, head of the Jakarta Renovation Office which advises museums and city planners of renovation work.

Wisnu cites Gereja Santo Yosef on Jalan Matraman in central Jakarta as an example of well-planned renovation. When worshippers could no longer be accommodated directly in front of the altar, a section of the building formerly used as an auditorium was dismantled. A new building was constructed, connected to the main part of the church in an "L" formation. The altar was shifted diagonally to a position where worshippers could still view it.

Another example of well-planned renovation lies in the Jakarta Cathedral on Lapangan Banteng, a three tower neo-gothic construction. Renovation of the church in the 1980s followed a thorough study of its construction. "To incorporate modern elements, we must not diametrically renovate against the character of the church," said Han Awal, the architect in charge of the project. Not content with the available literature in Jakarta, Han and his team of architects sourced more information from the headquarters of the Dutch Jesuit Order in Nijmegeen.

Renovation work should not end upon completion of construction, but should continue with the maintenance of the completed work. "And, of course, we should not cause the building to lose its original identity. A hodgepodge job, as they did with the Kebon Jeruk Mosque, should be avoided," said Wisnu.

SJS, ENDAH WS