The Mosques of Demak and Kudus

The two mosques on the road east of Semarang show how Islam settled into Java without erasing what stood before it. The Great Mosque of Demak is among the oldest in the country, a broad prayer hall under a three-tiered timber roof carried by four huge wooden pillars, one of which is traditionally said to have been bound together from wood chips by one of the nine saints credited with spreading the faith here. At Kudus, the mosque stands beside a red brick minaret built in the shape of a Javanese temple tower, split gates and all, with a drum in its upper chamber. Both are busy pilgrimage sites, with the saints' tombs beside them.

What you actually see

• Demak's timber roof - the tiered prayer hall and the four great pillars beneath it.
• The Kudus minaret - a red brick tower built in the form of a temple gate.
• The saints' tombs - pilgrimage graves beside both mosques, busy with reciters.
• The old gates - split and roofed portals carrying pre-Islamic Javanese forms.

When to go

Any dry-season day, avoiding Friday around midday when both mosques fill for prayers and visitors should stay outside. Pilgrim numbers peak around the saints' commemoration days and through Ramadan, when the courtyards stay busy late into the night. Early morning is calmest. Modest dress is expected, shoulders and knees covered, shoes off at the threshold.

Honest expectations

These are functioning mosques and active pilgrimage sites rather than monuments arranged for visitors, so access to the prayer halls depends on the hour, and tomb areas may be closed to non-Muslims. Both towns are congested and parking is chaotic. On-site explanation is in Indonesian, and a good deal of what a guide will tell you is tradition rather than documented history.

Nearby

Semarang's old town is an hour west; Kudus is also known for its clove cigarette industry and its kretek museum.