Local Wisdom of Gapura in Sunan Ampel Mosque based on the Place Attachment Theory

Abstract

Muslims dominate a quarter of the world's population, and Indonesia is one of the most Muslim countries. Java is the island in Indonesia with the most population and is known as the place where Islam is growing. Sunan Ampel, one of Walisongo, succeeds in spreading Islam in Java. Some of the relics of Sunan Ampel, such as the mosque and his neighborhood, become a historical place that many people often visit. The hallmark of his legacy is the gate called Gapura. Many studies have been done about the uniqueness of Gapura; however, none of them focus on the place attachment theory. Thus, this paper proposed the study of the combination between place attachment theory and the uniqueness of Gapura. The data were collected from the survey to the Area of Sunan Ampel. After that, qualitative research with a collaboration of interdisciplinary literature studies has been done to interpret the obtained data. Furthermore, the data will be synthesized and discussed to re-estimating the thought of Sunan Ampel. This study aims to get a holistic understanding of Sunan Ampel and the Gapura in the neighborhood of Sunan Ampel. Thus, the architecture and ornament of Gapura can show the past situation of the neighborhood and the development of Islam in Java. The result shows that the study with place attachment theory gives comprehensive results from the relation between local wisdom and the Gapura. By using the place attachment theory, it can be seen that the ornament during Sunan Ampel Era is similar to the previous Era, which is Majapahit. However, some elements of Islam are added in the Gapura, such as Pillar of Islam or called Rukun Islam. Thus, it can be concluded that there is local wisdom in Gapura of Sunan Ampel mosque related to the place attachment theory, which is believed it becomes a key to the succeed of Sunan Ampel in spreading Islam.