The Great Mosque Bente of Kaledupa, the forgotten history.

The Stairs of bente Mosque

I sensed a piece of past glory in the Kaledupa land. The Great Mosque Bente. An ancient and historical mosque whose existence is linked with certain local cultures. The mosque is situated in a fort on the mount of hill. In the time of dawn and dusk, you can capture beautiful moments here.

Not different with the mosque I visited Mobarak in LiyaTogo in Wangi-wangi island, this mosque is the heritage of Buton Kingdom that came in rule here many years ago. These mosques became places for spreading of Islam religion in this nation.

Based on a famous story in Ollo village where the mosque is located, this mosque was unbelievably built by the same person who built the mosque in the Buton Kingdom, and to add my wonder, these mosques were built simultaneously at one time.

The Grave

The mosque has many of windows, in the center of the mosque is a symbol resembles the name of Muhammad in Arabic. People said, that spot were used to be the place where a born female babies were buried alive, attired with full set of custom dress. Well, I don't have enough sources about this and neither have I known what motivated them to do such thing.

Inside the mosque

This mosque is poorly maintained. If only they treated and maintained it well, this historic heritage would not lose its history. The local people still use the mosque for their daily worships and prayers.
For worship site, this mosque has many meanings. We could see interesting lessons from the architectural design of the mosque. Such as, the seven stairs of the staircase represent four levels of human's degree and the other three elements are the king's guard. As I mentioned above, this mosque has many windows and doors, I could tell that it is for the circulation system of the mosque, alas..the seventeen windows to my surprise are also symbol of the seventeen rakats of the compulsory five prayers in a day a Muslim should perform.

Indonesia is a nation with great history. The history spans the islands from Sabang to Merauke. By conserving the historical sites, we pass down the great history to our younger generations. A great nation is the one that appreciates its history, isn't it?