Lawang Sewu Mosque is located in Sananrejo Village, Turen District, Malang Regency. Lawang Sewu Mosque is also known as the Thousand Doors Mosque because it has a lot of doors. This mosque by the local community is referred to as the Tiban Mosque. That is, the mosque suddenly exists. Lawang Sewu Mosque is one of the tourist attractions in Malang which is visited by many Muslim tourists. This article is a souvenir from a holiday event that I participated in on Sunday, October 14, 2012 yesterday. How exciting was my trip in Turen? Let’s see the following story!
This Lawang Sewu tourist spot is not the same as Lawang Sewu in Semarang. A vacation to the Lawang Sewu Mosque in Turen begins by taking the transportation route to Malang City. If tourists depart from the city of Surabaya, then the direction of travel is to Sidoarjo-Pandaan-Lawang-Malang City-Turen. Before arriving at the capital of the Turen sub-district, tourists will pass through Bululawang, Krebet, and Talangsuko. Well, after Talangsuko there is a fork leading to the Sananrejo village road. The journey from Surabaya to Sananrejo takes approximately two and a half hours.
The obstacle to a vacation to the Tiban Lawang Sewu Mosque is on the narrow Sananrejo Village road. Although the Thousand Doors Mosque tourist attraction in Sananrejo has been built many years ago, road access to tourist attractions is still not well organized. At that time, my fellow tourists and I were stressed because we were stuck in traffic for an hour on a village road. The reason is that the road is not enough to accommodate two tourist buses that pass at the same time. What’s the solution? Inevitably tourists have to walk as far as 1 km.
You can imagine how excruciating it is to have to walk long distances in the hot weather of the South Malang area. Not to mention the thick dust covering the road. Travelers should be extra alert to various bad possibilities such as shortness of breath and lack of body fluids. There is nothing wrong if before going on vacation to the Thousand Doors mosque in Malang, you prepare yourself with light drugs that you usually use to deal with sudden illness attacks.
The Beauty of the Architectural Art of the Lawang Sewu Mosque in Turen
I was flabbergasted when I entered the gate to the inside of the Lawang Sewu mosque tourist attraction. I do not believe. Is this seriously in Indonesia? I seemed to be looking at the beauty of the Taj Mahal, a tourist attraction in India that is well known throughout the world. The difference is, the Lawang Sewu Mosque in Malang was not made specifically for someone’s funeral. Lawang Sewu Mosque is actually a boarding school where Islamic education is taught and its construction has not been completed. I suspect the construction of the mosque has only reached 80 percent.
The Lawang Sewu Mosque tourist spot is managed by the Salafiyah Bihaaru Bahri Islamic Boarding School ‘Asali Fadlaailir Rahmah. This Islamic boarding school claims to be Ahlussunah Waljama’ah. The boarding school complex consists of a mosque where the five daily prayers are performed, a family room where tourists gather and unwind, a hanging garden on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors, as well as a shopping center and cafe on the 8th floor. There are many interesting spots at the Lawang Mosque. Sewu that can be explored by tourists.
Most of the walls of the Tiban Lawang Sewu mosque are decorated with murals and reliefs of natural landscapes. As per the teachings of Islam, every work of art is prohibited from using animate objects in the form of humans and animals. Various reliefs of the Tiban Lawang Sewu mosque use fruit, flower, leaf, and other plant parts motifs. The inside of the mosque also provides a children’s play area, fish pond, and a place to rest while enjoying the background of the natural scenery of the hilly area of Malang Regency.
The main attraction of the Lawang Sewu mosque in Malang in my eyes is the hanging garden on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors. This tourist attraction in Malang reminds me of the legendary Hanging Gardens in Babylon. It was really nice to be in the flower garden area of the Lawang Sewu mosque. This mosque can also function as a natural tourist spot that refreshes the mind. I had a chance to meet some young people who have a hobby of photographing pictures of tourist attractions. Apparently the beauty of the architectural art of tourist attractions in Malang Regency is widely known as one of the exotic tourist attractions in East Java.
The Unseen Story About the Thousand Doors Tiban Mosque in Malang
In addition to the artistic side of the mosque, another interesting thing to discuss about the tourist attractions of the Thousand Doors mosque in Malang is the occult stories that develop in the community. It is the habit of Indonesians that if there is a mosque that looks magnificent and beautiful, they will interpret it in the magical world. It is said that this tourist attraction in Malang is called the Tiban Mosque because suddenly there is a mosque building. In fact, the building materials used were never purchased by the manager of the Islamic boarding school, but suddenly they were piled up in the warehouse.
The occult story of the Thousand Doors mosque in Turen sub-district does not stop there. The interior of many mosques are not given perfect lighting. As a result, most living rooms look gloomy and dark. While in it, it was as if I was testing my guts at the Haunted House Tourism Forum in Jatim Park 1, Batu City. This situation requires that every tourist must walk in groups so as not to get lost. Its name is also the Thousand Doors Mosque, so there are many doors that can mislead visitors, making it difficult to find a way out.
When I went on vacation to the Thousand Doors Mosque in Malang yesterday, exploring the inside of the mosque took about three hours. Around four o’clock in the afternoon me and other tourists decided to get ready to go home. Actually there are still many interesting tourist objects in Malang to visit. For example, exploring 8 beautiful beach attractions in Malang Regency, then there are still Badut Temples, Jago Temples, and Gunung Kawi temples. Since it was getting late, we decided to head straight home.
I had time to shop for souvenirs typical of the city of Malang such as Malang apples, spinach chips, and cassava tape. While passing through the Pandaan area, the tour bus I was riding stopped at the Pandaan fruit market. The souvenir center in Pasuruan City is located close to the Cheng Ho Pandaan Mosque. The beauty of Lawang Sewu Mosque and Cheng Ho Mosque seems to signal to every human being that the power of God exists and is seen everywhere. The form can be in the form of magnificent and phenomenal buildings, as well as in the form of microcosm life that is difficult for human reason to understand.