A thousand pillars
An open-sided mosque full of breeze.
Adhmi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Muhamad Izzul Fiqih — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Firzafp — CC BY-SA 4.0
Jambi city's largest and best-known mosque, nicknamed the Thousand-Pillar Mosque for the many columns that carry and ring its broad roof: the mosque is largely open-sided with almost no walls, letting the breeze in from every side, a distinctive design suited to the region's heat. It is said to stand on the site of the old Jambi sultanate palace. A great dome crowns the mosque, and beneath its roof run long rows of matching white columns that give the space breadth and calm; it holds thousands of worshippers and fills on Fridays, in Ramadan and at the Eids. Around it are a broad square and gardens. Entry is free; the mosque serves daily and Friday prayers, and non-Muslims visit outside prayer times in modest dress. It is Jambi's leading sight for Muslim visitors, loveliest at the sunset prayer, followed by an evening stroll on the nearby Gentala Arasy bridge over the Batanghari River.
An open-sided mosque full of breeze.
Said to stand where the sultan's palace was.
Above rows of white columns.
Central Jambi city
It was designed open-sided to let air in from every direction in Jambi's humid heat, with many columns carrying the roof instead of walls, which earned it the name Thousand-Pillar Mosque.
