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Kudus Tower Mosque, which some may call Menara Kudus, has the pull of many magnets. In Central Java, Indonesia, the city ranks high on the list of devout places. Kudus’ very name, taken from the Javanese for ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’, shows its pious nature.

Each year, Kudus attracts many thousands of pilgrims. Devotion pumps the city’s lifeblood. And this influx of faith props the meaning loaded in Kudus’ name, which invokes images of piety and devotion and positions it as a holy place.

Thus, those who follow the way of Islam flock to the sacred Menara Kudus Mosque. They follow in the wake of the Nine Saints, or Wali Songo, who brought Islam to Java and spread its message. The masjid became a universal sight across Java, and the da’wah, or Allah’s invitation to live according to his will, a common summons. One such messenger was Ja’far Sadiq, also known as Sunan Kudus, who founded a place that he named Al-Quds. This symbolic name eased his longing for another holy city: Jerusalem, the place of his birth in Palestine in 1500 CE. Of all the sacred sites in Java, only Kudus can boast an Arabic-acquired moniker of such divine grace.

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And soon, Sunan Kudus became a cornerstone of Islam in Java and a Senopati in the Demak Sultanate. This was Java’s first Islamic kingdom. This kingdom brought down the Majapahit empire, which, as is the way of such things, had become tired and decadent. As befitting one of such standing, Sunan Kudus’ tomb, on the west side of the mosque complex, became a site of many pilgrimages.

Distinct Form

But while faith can be a uniform thing, the Kudus Tower Mosque has a look of its own. Its form approaches that of a temple with a style that merges Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist traditions. So doing, the mosque came to embody acculturation in Java. Islam became embedded in the region at no cost to its mores or those that already flowed upon the island’s unseen currents. And the aware Sunan Kudus buttressed his Islamic teachings with the same cultural awareness. 

Inscriptions on a stone stele, or plaque, on Menara Kudus Mosque’s mihrab indicate that construction on the masjid started in 1549 CE. The first stones came from Baitul Maqdis in Palestine. The new mosque soon took the name Al-Aqsa in deference to its forebear. 

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Like many places in Indonesia, doorways prevail at Kudus Tower Mosque. A visitor will find five doors on the left and the same on the right. Four windows allow light to enter, which shines upon another large five-piece door and eight teak wood pillars. And for ablution, devotees can avail themselves of 16 padasan showers. These showers form two rows of eight. These rows correspond to the eight paths of virtue, or Asta Sanghika Marga, that the Buddha first taught his learners. 

Two flags fly within Kudus Tower Mosque: one on the right and another to the left, where the khatib, or preacher, gives the sermon. And on the front porch, the paduraska gate leads to Sunan Kudus’ tomb. Upon this gate one may see carvings of mythic beasts that look like hares. Lore states that such a motif aligns with the Hindu notion of a moon animal that takes such a shape. This creature appears on other temple sites of former kingdoms in East Java: Singasari and Majapahit. The kedhok motif, meanwhile, that resembles the kala that furnishes Buddhist temples, further shows the ongoing pattern that charges through the mosque and links pre-Islamic and Islamic worlds. 

Inner Paths

A candi bentar, or split gateway, affords entry to Kudus Tower Mosque from Jl. Menara. From there, it is possible to follow two main roads: one to the south and another to the north. The former directs worshippers straight to the mosque, and following the latter will lead to the burial complex. 

Such things are for the devotees and those who have business in the mosque. However, all will note the tower’s distinct size that marks it not as an ostentatious place but one that emanates contentment. It is neither the biggest nor the smallest site. Its colours, which comprise earthen tones of red and brown, mean that the tower blends in with the surrounding buildings. The uninitiated may well walk past and never realise what they missed. 

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But the aware will note the tower reaches 18 metres in height and that the decorations consist of 32 plates with pictures upon them. Twenty of these plates, the blue set, depict mosques, camels and date palm trees. The remaining 12, the red and white numbers, show flowers. Peace, open, calm. But the philosophical reader may well offer a different interpretation.

Base Body

Stepping into the tower will reveal a teak staircase from 1895. And those who climb the stairs of Menara Kudus will see that the building’s constituent three parts – the foot, the body and the top – abide by the conventions of Javanese Hindu art. At the base, one will see a common Hindu motif. From the bottom, triangular antefixes run up the tower so that they may hide covering tiles and offer shelter from the elements. The body, meanwhile, features a niche typically filled with statues, while at the head, a drum rests under the roof so that, come the right time, it may call followers to pray.

And the tower’s head further shows a unique inflexion. The structure and shape of the roof see it overlap itself in three layers in the Hindu style. Traditional Javanese methods of construction are demonstrated in the form of a quarter of saka guru rods that buttress two pyramidal tajug roofs. These types of roofs are often reserved for sacred sites. 

It is also true that acculturation stretches in both directions. While Menara Kudus, by its very nature, inhabits an Islamic character, common opinion suggests that the site formerly existed as a Hindu temple. This notion gains credence because the tower’s shape shows a marked similarity with Malang’s Candi Kidal in East Java, which dates from around 1250 CE.

But why stop there? Conjecture reaches even further into the abstract and posits that ‘neath the tower used to exist a spring of living water. This water, some have said, had the power to breathe life back into the bodies of the dead. Such an extraordinary notion never gained momentum. Fears of cult-like behaviour inspired by the spring saw it covered over by the tower, forever banished to the realm of fanciful ideas.