The Great Mosque of Djenne – Timbuktu Mali

Africa | Ricky | June 25, 2009 at 12:27 am

Djenne, the primeval commercial point and the focal core of Muslim erudition in Mali, is located in close proximity to the flood plain of Bani River, southwest of Timbuktu. The Great Mosque of Djenne, an architectural marvel of the Sudano-Sahelian manner, is the most renowned milestones in Africa with the encompassing city is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The site where the Mosque stands was originally the location of the palace of Sultan Kunburu in 1240, who after becoming a Muslim ordered to tear down the palace to turn it into a mosque whose towers and walls were constructed by his immediate descendants. When the town came under the reins of jihadi fundamentalist Seku Amadu who objected to the mosque let it go into shambles. During the period from 1834 to two years down the line, Seku built a new mosque that comprised of a huge low lying building without towers in the eastern direction to the existing mosque which was the former site of the palace. The sole remnant of the original structure is an enclosed space where the cemetery of famed leaders is found.

In 1906 when the French army took over the town, they invested significant amounts of time and money to reconstruct the original mosque which took about a year to complete. The outer walls are those that belonged to the original mosque with the eastern wall with two tombs leading to a terrace. The remnants of the imam Almany Ismaila are buried in the larger tomb to the south. A pond that was situated on the east side was earth-filled to make a wide space where currently the weekly market stands.

Many mosques situated in Mali have been reinforced with electrical cabling and plumbing with the originality of many being tampered during renovation practices. The Great Mosque still retains it originality with due efforts of the Djenne community which is commendable.

The walls are made of sun-burned ferey which is a mud made mortar and are layered with a coat of mud plaster which proffers the perfect moulded and even look. This helps avert overheating of its interiors during the day and keep its warm during the cool night time. The walls are ornate with bunches of sticks from palm trees that jut out 2 feet away from the walls which serve meticulously as gibbets for yearly maintenance. Earthenware half shaped pipes also protrude off the roof that aid in swerving the rain water away from the walls. To facilitate adequate ventilation, miniature vents with detachable invertible oven-baked bowls are located in the roof.

To counteract the ravaging effects of yearly flooding that inundates the town, the Great Mosque was built on an elevated platform of 62,500 square feet. The prayer area also called the quilba is an open area facing the east to Mecca and provides views of the market place. The quilba has three prominent huge box shaped minarets which have a niche each from where serene sounds of prayers emanate and has eighteen bolsters that protrude out of the main wall. Each minaret has twisting stairs that wind up to the roof where one finds an ostrich egg placed atop the conical spire. The inner area of the prayer hall has ninety wooden columns that sustain the weight of the roof but at the same time obstruct the viewing spectrum to a significant extent. There are asymmetrically placed windows on the north and south walls through which the sun’s rays percolate to light up the interiors of the hall.

Part of the mosque which is mud roofed has a second prayer hall in a yard behind it which is covered by walls in all directions except the east side where the mosque stands. A covered passage about 15 metres high, lines the inner side of the walls with intermittent arched openings that proffer splendid views of the courtyard. The western side is exclusively used by women.

The entire community has come up with an innovative means to preserve the magnificence of the mosque by actively involving the young community in an annual gala fair where men and women coming forward with positive energy in making the plaster in pits which go into its maintenance.