Arts Knowledge

Mosques and Minarets

Mosques

A mosque (in Arabic, Masjid) is the building in which Muslims worship Allah, their God. Throughout Islamic history, the mosque was, and still is, not only the place where Muslims attend the five daily prayers, but also the centre of the community and towns formed around this pivotal building.

All mosques have a mihrab, a niche in the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca, the direction towards which Muslims pray.  Most mosques also have a minbar from which an Islamic scholar is able to deliver a sermon or speech.

Three facts you should know about mosques:

Men do not pray together with women, they have separate areas with separate entrances.

Most mosques have courtyards with pools and fountains, which originally supplied water for ablution before prayer.

Mosques are decorated with straight lines of geometric designs or verses from the Quran in Arabic calligraphy. There are no images of life or statues in mosques, in Islam this is forbidden.

Learn more on Islam and its architecture.

Minarets

In the remote past they served as guide posts for caravans moving on vast plateaus, thus they could find their routes in endless deserts and plains. Minarets were also built on seashores playing the same role as a lighthouse.

During Islamic period, mosques have started to be built in a more and more complex way, so minarets were “added” to them, built into or adjacent. From their top the Muslims could hear the muezzin’s call to prayer.

Minarets serve as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence as well. They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires.

Learn more on minarets.

Top Three Largest Church Buildings

Asian Architecture. Temples vs Pagodas

A temple is a place of worship, similar to a church for Christians or a mosque for Muslims. Is where Asian worshippers go to mediate and people of all walks of life can get spiritual knowledge. The architectural style varies greatly throughout Asia, but they are always built to face the East or South for better luck and designed to inspire inner and outer peace. 

Learn more about temples here:

Buddhist temples in Japan

Chinese temples

A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves built to have a religious function. The oldest pagodas were built of wood, but most that survived were built of brick or stone.

Some pagodas are solid with no interior, some hollow having no higher floors or rooms, but the interior might often contains an altar or a smaller pagoda, as well as a series of staircases for the visitor to climb to see the view from an opening on one side of each tier. Most have between three and 13 tiers (almost always an odd number) and the classic gradual tiered eaves.

Learn more about pagodas here.

Japanese Arts. Ikebana

Ikebana is an ancient Japanese custom, meaning "arranging flowers" or "making flowers alive"; it is also known as kadō, "way of flowers".

At the very beginning, the art of flower arranging had no meaning, was simply placing flowers in vases to be used as temple offerings without a specific structure.

The art came into existence only at the end of the 15th century. As a little curiosity: Ikebana has always been considered a dignified accomplishment. All of Japan's most celebrated generals notably practised flower arranging, finding that it calmed their minds and made their decisions on the field of action clearer (source, Wikipedia).

Of course, there are many schools and techniques. But this is for professional florists, or historians or hobbyists. For us, the public, I think is enough to know it exists, it can be a source of inspiration (source, Elite Flowers), and above all... it can embellish our lives

See here another link to a site that presents Ikebana in a more concise way, Veranda .

First pictures from Pinterest, The Man in the Maze Studio.