Architectural Characteristics Study on Community Mosques in Priangan 1900 – 1942

Priangan was a region with a distinctive historical background and administrative unity. The region consisted of 7 regencies in present West Java Province. There were some old community mosques in the region. The aim of this paper is to formulate architectural characteristics of Priangan old community mosques and their overall development. The mosques are no longer observable today. Therefore, the study is referring to old documentations. The oldest available documentations of such mosques were presented in the form of photos from Dutch colonial era, after the ethical policy. Therefore, the study is limited from the year 1900 to 1942. Based on the photos, the mosques were resketched by outlining the intended variables, which are building mass, transitional space, and roof. There were some common architectural characteristics that can be concluded from Priangan old community mosques. The common characters are single mass, surrounding verandah, and two stacked pyramidal roof. On the overall development, the mosques showed the peak of architectural characteristics variations on the photos that were taken in the year 1925.


Introduction
Based on a preliminary study, Priangan had old community mosques which shared architectural characteristics similarities among them. Priangan was a region in West Java which had distinctive historical background and administrative unity. Priangan was one of the fractions of Sunda Pajajaran Kingdom. When Sunda Kingdom collapsed, it was divided into smaller fractions, among them were Sumedanglarang and Galuh. Galuh was conquered by Mataram Islam Kingdom in 1595. Then Sumedanglarang surrendered to Mataram in 1620 1 . The area which had been belonged to Sumedanglarang and Galuh were then called Priangan 2 .
Since 1677, the domination over Priangan region was rendered from Mataram to VOC (Vereneeging Oost-Indische Compagnie), a monopoly holder Dutch trading company. It went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1799. Its assets were taken over by Dutch Government 3 , including Priangan. Priangan then came under a short period of British Colonial Government from 1811 -1816 like the rest of Indonesian Archipelago. But from 1816, the Dutch Colonial Government regained its reign on the Archipelago, and kept its domination until being defeated by the Japanese in 1942.
The old community mosques in Priangan were no longer observable in the field. Therefore, the study will refer to old documentations. The accessible documentations of those mosques were started to be made around 1900. The Ethical Policy was also established around that time 5 . By that policy, Dutch Colonial Government paid more attention to the natives' welfare, such as education and health. Based on those reasons, the time frame of the study were limited from 1900 to 1942 when Dutch Colonial reign was ended by the Japanese invasion.
Bambang Setia Budi had classified old mosques under sultanates in Java into 4 categories based on their role and setting 6 . First category was the great mosque which was located in the heart of the city and became a symbol of the ruler's greatness. The second mosque was langgar kraton mosque which was located inside the palace (kraton) complex and especially used by the women in the palace. The third category was community mosque which was located among the society and used by them, such as kampung (village) mosque and pesantren (native's Islamic boarding school) mosque. The fourth category was isolated mosque which was located in inland areas, such as the mountains, and adjacent to graveyard.
The mosques in this study could be classified into the third category. Nevertheless, the above classification was made on mosques under sultanate, while Priangan was not a region in the form of sultanate. Therefore, there can be some characteristic differences between the mosques in the third category and the community mosques in Priangan. There were also some old great mosques in Priangan which were located on the capital regencies. Those mosques are not discussed further in this paper.

Research's Aim and Method
The aim of the study is to formulate architectural characteristics of old community mosques in Priangan from 1900 to 1942. The study encompasses the mosque as a whole mass to some more detail architectural elements. The tendency of community mosques' development from time to time will also be studied. Hopefully, this research will contribute to the knowledge of Islamic architecture diversity in Indonesian Archipelago.
This study is using historical research method from the qualitative method. The method has 4 systematic steps 7 . The first step is data searching. The second step is data criticizing. The third is findings interpretation. The fourth step is chronological writing of the findings. This method has it's concern on data's validity through data selection and critic.
Old community mosques in Priangan are no longer observable in present time. Therefore, the study will refer to the oldest available documentations of the mosques. The documentations are old photographs made around 1900 -1942. The photos were acquired from the internet, mainly from KITLV (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde) website and from Tropen Museum through Wikimedia.
There were 14 photos that were managed to be obtained which showed 10 different mosques. They were spread in 4 regencies, which are Sukabumi, Bandung, Garut, and Tasikmalaya. There was 1 mosque in Sukabumi. There were 2 mosques in Bandung, one in each Banjaran and Cibolang. In Garut there were 5 mosques, which were spread in Cisurupan, Tarogong, Cibatu, Garut City, and 1 other mosque that the specific location was not known. In Tasikmalaya, there were 2 mosques, which were located in Pamijahan and Singaparna. The mosques are then resketched based on their old photographs. Resketching was done by tracing the outline from the photos. Proposed outlines were also drawn for the lines of form that were not very clear or were could not be seen at all. It was done based on logical interpretation of form. The resketching was carried out to enhance the focus on certain variables or characteristics that were intended to be studied.
Literature studies that were conducted to determine the variables were about architectural characteristics and old mosques in Indonesian Archipelago. Sagsoz, Tuluk, and Ozgen (2005) 8 analyzed architectural characteristics from building's story height, symmetry, horizontal/vertical accent, overhang, entrance, bay window, and window. Those elements were seen from their position, dimension, form, and kind. There was also a study of Javanese old mosques by Bambang Setia Budi 9 . He stated that the mosques had square plan, pyramidal stacked roof, saka guru columns, surrounding wall, and located near graveyard complex. He also stated that minaret or tower and serambi (verandah) were additional features of the mosques that were not originated from them.
Architectural characteristics variables were then formulated based on those previous studies with some considerations about the limited information that can be gained from photos. The determined variables are mass, transitional space (verandah), and roof. The variables are seen from their kind, form, amount, position, and symmetry. The mosques are then compared by each variable. The development tendencies of the variables are also mapped out.

Old Community Mosques in Priangan
Based on the photos that were managed to be acquired for this paper, there were 10 old community mosques in Priangan. (1901 -1902) The mosque in Sukabumi was only consisted of the main mass. It had symmetrical mass. The mosque had verandah on the front and each side of its main room. The mosque had 2 stacked pyramidal roof with opening between the stacks which was divided into 3 modules by small columns. Each roof stack had 2 angles, steeper on the upper part and sloping more gently on the lower part. It also had ornated fascia board. verandah in front and on each side of the room in 1 column module wide. The roof was 2 stacked pyramidal roof with opening between them was divided into 3 small modules. Both stacks had 2 sloping angles. The roof cover was tile roof. The roof had ornated fascia board and vertical planks ornament. The Mosque in Banjaran, Bandung Regency, was only consisted of the main mass. It's mass was symmetrical. It's main room was surrounded by terrace on the front side of the main room. The mosque's roof was consisted of the main and the additional part. The main roof was 2 stacked pyramidal roof with opening that was divided into 2 modules by small columns. The upper stack had 2 sloping angles. The lower stack was covered by tile roof. The additional roof was located in front and covered also by tiles. It had the form of gable roof connected with the extention of the main roof. There were also ornated vertical planks below the gable roof. Mosque in Tarogong, Garut Regency, was only consisted of the main mass. The mosque had symmetrical mass. The main room was surrounded by verandah in front and on each side of the room. The roof had the form of 2 stacked pyramidal roof with opening between them that was divided into 3 small column modules. Both stacks had 2 sloping angles. The roof was covered with tiles and had ornated fascia board. 7. Istri (Women) Mosque, Pengkolan, Garut (1925) 8. Mosque in Cibatu, Garut (1925) The Mosque in Cibatu, Garut Regency, was consisted of the main mass and additional masses. It had verandah in front of its main mass and twin towers on the side part. The additional masses were attached to the main mass and form a symmetrical configuration. These mass characteristics were also found on the great mosques in Priangan. The main room of Mosque in Cibatu had verandah on its both side. The mosque had 2 stacked pyramidal main roof with opening between the stacks. Verandah mass had hipped roof form. The twin towers had pointed roofs with openings below them. The roofs were all covered by tiles and had 2 sloping angles.

Mosque in Pamijahan, Tasikmalaya (1910)
The Mosque in Pamijahan, Tasikmalaya Regency, was consisted of the main mass and additional verandah mass in front. The masses were attached to each other and formed symmetrical configuration (seen from the back side of the mosque). The masses were surrounded by transitional space between the exterior and the interior which was formed by the space between the wall and the fence (trench-like space). The main roof had a 2 stacked pyramidal form with opening between the stacks. The upper stack had 2 sloping angles. The verandah's roof was a hipped roof. The roof cover was made from palm fiber.  Istri Mosque in Pengkolan, Garut City, was consisted of the main mass. The front side (East view) of the mosque could not be identified from the photo. Therefore, the symmetricity of the mosque could not be determined. The mosque appeared to have no verandah or any transitional space between the exterior and interior. The mosque had pyramidal roof form with a dome on top of it. There was opening between the pyramidal roof and the dome. The pyramidal roof was covered with tiles and had 2 sloping angles.

Architectural Characteristics Comparation of the Mosques 1. Mass
From the available photos, old community mosques in Priangan can be divided into 2 major categories based on their masses. The first category was the mosques that only consisted of the main mass. Those mosques were in Sukabumi (1901 - Singaparna (1925 -1933). The additional masses were verndah and minarets in Cibatu.
The conclusion for the mosque's mass characteristics can be summarized from table 2. All of the mosques were had symmetrical mass except for Istri Mosque that could not be determined due to its unknown mass orientation in the photo. Most of the mosques (7 from 10) were only consisted of the main mass. The mosques with mass addition started to appear from the 1910 photos. The rather distinguishable mosque was the Mosque in Cibatu which had twin towers, unlike any other mosques. category was the mosques with extended verandah in front of the main room as additional mass. Those mosques were in Cibatu (1925) and Singaparna (1925Singaparna ( -1933. Third category was the mosques that did not have transitional space surrounding the main room. Those mosques were in Garut (1925) and Istri Mosque (1925). Istri Mosque did not have any transitional space, while the Mosque in Garut only had the front terrace.    Based on table 4, roof characteristics of old community mosques in Priangan can be summarized. All of the mosques had 2 stacked pyramidal main roof form, except for Istri Mosque. All of the mosques showed 2 sloping angles, either on both stacks or on one of the stacks. Additional roof was first seen in the photos from 1910 in Pamijahan. Most photos from the year 1925 (3 out of 4) showed additional roof. Those mosques were located in Tasikmalaya and Garut Regency. They were the Mosque in Singaparna, Cibatu, and Garut. The mosque with rather distinctive roof characteristics was Istri Mosque, because it was adorned with dome unlike any other mosques.

Closing Remarks
Based on the above analysis, the architectural characteristics of old mosques in Priangan can be concluded. Most of the mosques had symmetrical mass and only consisted of the main mass. Most of the mosques had transitional space that surrounded their main room or their mass. Most of the mosques also had 2 stacked pyramidal main roof form with 2 sloping angles.
Beside the general cases, there were also some unique characteristics of the mosques. The Mosque in Cibatu, Garut (1925), had rather distinctive mass due to its twin towers, which were usually presented on the great mosques in Priangan. The Mosque in Garut (1925) and Pamijahan, Tasikmalaya Regency (1910) were the rather distinctive mosques from the transitional space characteristics. The Msoque in Garut only had the transitional space in front of the main room, while the Mosque in Pamijahan had it in the form of trench-like space, different from any other mosques. But the most distinctive mosque of all was Istri Mosque in Pengkolan, Garut City (1925). The mosque had a dome, did not have any transitional space, and its symmetricity could not be determined due to it's photo angle. There were also some tendencies between neighboring regencies, which occured in Tasikmalaya and Garut. Both of them had mosques with additional masses and roofs.
There were some certain years of photo taking which showed certain transformation of the mosques characteristics. Photo in year 1910 showed the first mosque with mass and roof addition in Pamijahan. However, the photos from 1925, which contributed the largest number of photos, showed the peak of additional roof. Those photos also showed the most varied transitional space configurations.
There were also some events which took place in the Dutch East Indies during the year 1925. In 1924, the cities' state of gemeente (city with partial autonomy rights) was changed into stadsgemeente (city with full autonomy rights). In 1926, the Java Island was divided into 3 provinces, which were West Java, Central Java, and East Java 10 . Those administration reforms, which were the attempts toward decentralization, could have possibly made the responsible of the authorities to fell on smaller areas. Therefore, the fringes or inland areas would have had received more attention, such as perhaps some documentation efforts.