At-Tin Mosque: Evidence Of The Sandalwood Family's Love For Mrs. Tien

At-Tin Mosque, built as a manifestation of the Suharto family's love for Mrs. Tien. (masjidagungattin.org)

JAKARTA - Siti Hartinah or who is familiarly called Mrs. Tien is the initiator of the Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park (TMII). The park is a giant mirror of religion in the archipelago. Miniature Indonesia, he thought. People can also explore the benefits of TMII. They can see the Indonesian identity of each region of the archipelago.

TMII is forever remembered as a monumental work. Even though Tien's mother is gone. The Cendana family also agreed. As a form of love, the magnificent mosque was built specifically to commemorate Ibu Tien in the TMII area. At-Tin Great Mosque, the name.

Ideas can be found anywhere. That's what Mrs. Tien agreed when she visited the United States in the 1970s. Tien's mother paid a visit to the Disneyland theme park. Tried all kinds of rides. Therefore, the idea arose to build a similar playground.

However, Mrs. Tien wants to create a park that is not only a playground. But also full of learning. TMII is his name. He wanted TMII, which was originally known as the Miniatur Indonesia Indah project, to introduce the diversity that characterizes Indonesia. The dream is big. Mrs. Tien wants every traveler who visits TMII to be proud to be a part of Indonesia.

At-Tin Mosque front view. (masjidagungattin.org)

There are those who agree with Ibu Tien's idea. There are also those who do not agree. Even the voices of rejection of TMII's presence appeared everywhere. Most people don't mind the idea of TMII. The problem lies in the government's priority, which wants to be built in the midst of the nation's economy has not improved. Alias, many of them live under the scope of poverty.

Ali Sadikin, who was usually at odds with Suharto, actually looked different. He supported Mrs. Tien Suharto. He emphasized that there was nothing wrong with the construction of TMII. The governor of DKI Jakarta said that TMII is part of Jakarta beautifying itself. There may be pros and cons that characterize the presence of TMII. But the construction of TMII has continued since 1972. Finally, TMII was inaugurated on April 20, 1975.

"The problem is, among other things, Mrs. Tien Suharto's statement that the Taman Mini Project will cost Rp 1.5 billion. It was considered by students and some community leaders a very luxurious plan. In fact, the criticism they made was that it was a lighthouse project.”

"I see it differently. When I had a dialogue with them, I explained that the plan to create such a garden had been in the Jakarta master plan for a long time. It is the people's mandate. And I've seen the same thing abroad, such as in Bangkok, Thailand's miniature, even though the one in Bangkok is small, very simple. I've seen it in Manila too,” recalls Ali Sadikin as written by Ramadhan KH in the book Bang Ali: Demi Jakarta: 1966-1977 (1992).

At-Tin . Mosque

The existence of TMII continues to last forever. Even though Ibu Tien passed away in 1995. Every visitor seems to have traveled around Indonesia when they have been to TMII. The pros and cons behind the previous TMII development seemed to disappear. All because TMII was able to become a monumental work in the capital city of Jakarta.

A year after Ibu Tien's departure, the Cendana family (Soeharto and his children) wanted to add to the splendor of TMII. They wanted to build a mosque in the TMII area to commemorate Ibu Tien. The construction of this mosque was a will from Mrs. Tien herself before she died. At-Tin Mosque, the name.

The Cendana family continued the will. As a form of love, the mosque is planned to be built on an area of 70,000 square meters. The architect chosen to design the mosque is not just anyone. Both are well-known architects in the country (father and son), Fauzan Noeman and Achmad Noeman.

The two designs produced a great masterpiece as a form of the Cendana Family's love for Mrs. Tien. The mosque, which is close to a Turkish touch, looks majestic and modern. Moreover, the mosque is predicted to accommodate around 25,850 worshippers.

The courtyard of the At-Tin Mosque. (masjidagungattin.org)

The name of the mosque chosen was inspired by a sura in the Quran, At-Tin. The Surah is considered to be able to provide enlightenment to humans so that they can live life as well as possible. It is also said that the name was chosen because it has similarities with the name of Tien's mother.

The mosque which was inaugurated in 1999 has never been empty of visitors. Always crowded. Members of the Cendana family also often hold big celebrations at the At-Tin mosque from weddings to the 1,000th anniversary of Suharto's death.

“Previously, a series of yasinan and tahlilan events had been held at the residence of Jl. Cendana in Jakarta, in Dalem Kalitan in Solo, at Astana Giribangun in Karanganyar, Surakarta, with a climax at the At-Tin Mosque which Pak Harto built after Ibu Tien died, near TMII.”

“At the end of the event, Mbak Tutut and her siblings and Pak Harto's grandchildren distributed tens of thousands of very special Qur'ans. In addition to the design specially done by a team from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Quran is written in three languages, namely Arabic, Indonesian, and English," concluded OC Kaligis in Pak Harto's book: Sisi. -The Forgotten Side (2014).