The Sultan of Riau Mosque
Seventeen domes and minarets.
https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pengguna:Masgatotkaca — CC0 · Herusutimbul — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Herusutimbul — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Herusutimbul — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small island off the town of Tanjung Pinang that was the centre of the Riau-Lingga sultanate and a beacon of Malay Islamic culture in the nineteenth century. Tradition says Sultan Mahmud gave it as a dowry to his wife Engku Puteri Hamidah, and scholars and writers lived here, among them Raja Ali Haji, author of the Gurindam Dua Belas, the best-known text of Malay literature, who helped standardise the Malay language from which Indonesian grew. Its highlight is the yellow Sultan of Riau Mosque, rebuilt in 1832, whose domes and minarets number seventeen, the count of the daily prayers' units, and whose mortar is said to have been mixed with egg white. The mosque holds an old handwritten Quran. The island also has the tombs of the sultans, Engku Puteri Hamidah and Raja Ali Haji, and ruins of palaces and royal buildings. Small boats cross from the Tanjung Pinang jetty in about a quarter of an hour for a small fare, and entry is free. Get around the island on foot or by three-wheeled bentor. The island is one of Bintan's finest outings for Muslim visitors, so allow half a day, pray at the mosque, and dress modestly.
Seventeen domes and minarets.
Author of the Gurindam Dua Belas.
And ruined palaces.
Penyengat island, off Tanjung Pinang
So local tradition says: that residents donated huge quantities of eggs during construction and the whites went into the mortar. It is a cherished story passed down on the island.