Paper short abstract:

A serambi is an open-roofed hall in Javanese mosques and houses. It separates secular activities from spiritual practices, but is a sacred space as the soul of ancestors could be invoked by a ritual that Islam adopted. My paper discusses the sacred-profane serambi in Javanese belief and environment.

Paper long abstract:

Early Javanese mosque is extended in the front by an open-roofed veranda(serambi) and encircled by water, open space, and an enclosing wall. Although a serambi intends to separate secular activities from spiritual practices in the mosque, it was a significant space for the Hindu-Buddhist wayang shadow play, because Javanese believed that the soul of ancestors as shadows could be invoked by a sacred ritual which Islam adopted.

This spatial arrangements of a mosque and a serambi can be related to a typical ideal Javanese house: an initial house(omah) and an open-roofed hall. Moreover, mosque and house share similar concepts in spatial expressions and atmosphere. Located at the back of the house, omah is a sacred domain as it contains the abode of the rice goddess Sri.

Many houses use this place for prayer, indicating the concept of the sacred domain to Javanese belief, while serambi is for public activities such as ritual performances and social gatherings. The spatial quality of omah are governed by darkness, opaqueness, and mystery; serambi by brightness, openness, and transparency.

The tradition of a serambi in the front of the mosque continues in modern times, suggesting Javanese Muslims' consideration of the serambi as a sacred space, and the encircling water is an adaptation of the Javanese cosmology in which the central Java is enclosed by a ring of ocean.

As the notion of the sacred-profane serambi is based on Javanese belief system, my paper demonstrates both places, to enhance Javanese syncretic Islam in their living environments.