Jakarta, Indonesia
Coordinates: -6.169700, 106.830800
Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the sixth largest mosque in the world in terms of worshipper capacity.
This national mosque of Indonesia was built to commemorate Indonesian independence and named “Istiqlal”, an Arabic word for “independence”.
The mosque was opened to the public 22 February 1978. Within Jakarta, the mosque is positioned next to Merdeka Square and the Jakarta Cathedral.
After the Indonesian National Revolution 1945–1949, followed by the recognition of Indonesian independence from The Netherlands in 1949, there was a growing idea to build a national mosque for the new republic, which had the largest Muslim population in the world.
The idea of constructing a grand Indonesian national mosque was launched by Wahid Hasyim, Indonesia’s first minister for religions affairs.
The foundation stone was laid by Sukarno on 24 August 1961; the construction took 17 years. President Suharto inaugurated it as the national mosque on 22 February 1978. It is the largest mosque in the region of Southeast Asia, with a capacity of over 120,000.
