Masjid Raya (Main mosque of) Langsa

Masjid di Aceh yang ingin dipaparkan seterusnya adalah Masjid Raya Langsa.
The mosque in Aceh to be featured next is the main mosque of Langsa.

Masjid ini agak istimewa bagi saya kerana inilah tempat saya berlindung ketika pertama kali sampai di Aceh Januari 2004.

This mosque is rather special for me as this is the place I took shelter at when I first arrived in Aceh January 2004.

Semasa itu Aceh masih dalam keadaan darurat akibat perang antara puak pemisah GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) dan TNI (Tentera Nasional Indonesia).

At the time Aceh was still in a state of emergency because of war between the separatist group GAM (Aceh Freedom Movement) and TNI (Indonesian National Army).

Orang dari luar Indonesia tidak dibenarkan masuk ke Aceh. Malah orang Indonesia yang bukan dari Aceh pun belum tentu dapat masuk ke sana.

People from outside Indonesia is not allowed to enter Aceh. In fact there was no guarantee Indonesians who are not from Aceh would be allowed to enter there.

Kawalan ketat tentera terdapat di mana-mana tetapi dengan izin Allah, saya dapat masuk ke sini. Mari kita lihat dalam masjid!

Tight control by the army is evident everywhere but by the permission of Allah, I managed to get in here. Let's have a look inside the mosque!

Ruang utama solat.
Main praying hall.

Mihrab...

The front-most section...

Pandangan dari bawah kubahnya yang luas...

The view from its spacious domes...

Lihat lebih dekat, ada satu bentuk istimewa Aceh...

Look closer, there's a special Aceh shape or design...

Inilah bentuk yang dikenali sebagai pintu Aceh...

This is the shape known as "pintu Aceh" (door of Aceh)...