Masjid Al.An.Darussalam KelurahanTalangrimbobar

Rising among the fragrant coffee gardens and clove orchards of Curup town in the cool uplands of Bengkulu province on the western coast of the island of Sumatra, this quiet house of worship carries the blessed title Darussalam, meaning the abode of peace, a noble name drawn directly from the Quranic descriptions of paradise promised to the believers. The building is rooted deeply in the kelurahan Talang Rimbo Baru urban ward, a place of terraced hillsides, dark volcanic soils and a mixed population of Rejang, Serawai and Javanese Muslims whose families have carefully tended these highland groves for many generations. Bengkulu province has welcomed the faith since the long ago expansion of the Palembang and Aceh sultanates, and later during the colonial era the city of Bengkulu briefly hosted the Indonesian founder Sukarno in political exile, a period during which he taught and learned from local scholars of the Muhammadiyah school. The town of Curup itself sits on the cool green slopes of Mount Kaba, a volcanic region long remembered for the piety of Tuanku Rao, may God have mercy upon him, whose teachings in the early nineteenth century spread gently through the green Rejang highlands. The mosque follows the familiar Sumatran idiom with a tiered pyramidal roof of painted zinc sheet, tall green painted doors of carved kempas timber, a cool prayer hall with bamboo latticework over the high open windows, and a separate place for women worshippers behind carved wooden screens. Five daily prayers rise above the green coffee terraces, and the Friday congregation draws farmers, teachers and market traders from across the surrounding kelurahan. During the blessed month of Ramadan the evening meal is generously shared with lemang rice cooked in fragrant bamboo, sweet pisang molen pastries and strong Rejang coffee, before the tarawih prayers lasting deep into the cool mountain night. The two festivals of Eid fill the courtyard with many happy families in their finest batik bengkulu finery. Travellers heading up to the dramatic crater of Mount Kaba or across to the green tea plantations of Kabawetan often stop quietly to pray, finding a welcome that breathes the calm of the surrounding highland hills and the deep piety of the mountain farming people of this region.