Prayer Hall Research Articles

Расшифровка надписей в Петербургском буддийском храме

Introduction. A number of research papers have dealt with the St. Petersburg Buddhist Temple. But some inscriptions from the interior of this cultural heritage have not been studied. Goal. The article deciphers Tibetan and Sanscrit inscriptions from the temple. The inscriptions situated on the front, porch, pillars and responds in the hall, on the plafond, door framing and altar niche in the prayer hall have become the material for this research. In addition, the paper analyzes the trace drawings of the inscriptions stored at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the RAS – from the files ’Drawings and Sketches to the Project of the Buddhist Preaching-House in Staraya Derevnya, 11, Blagoveschenskay Street’ and ’Materials of the Buddhist Preaching-House Building Committee’ which include bills of companies, a letter by the Technical Department under city governor’s administration that allows to install a ‘Ganchjir’ on the front face, and drawings of emblems and inscriptions. Results. The paper provides transliterations and translations of the inscriptions supplemented with clarifying pictures. It comes to some conclusions and sets forth suggestions regarding who might have authored the inscriptions. Particularly, the work contests the fact that the temple be devoted to the deity of Kalachakra only. So, Chado Rinpoche, an ex-Abbot of Namgyal and Gyoto monasteries, denied the possibility of the quotations having been a part of any canonical Buddhist text, including those dealing with Kalachakra practices. He also suggested that the destroyed inscription over the entrance may have denoted the name of the temple but the author concludes this is highly questionable. Regarding the trace drawings prepared for the Buddhist temple at that period and found in two files at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the RAS the following conclusion was made. The first inscription is the mantra Padmoshnishi (Tibetan pad ma’i gtsug tor) ‘om padmosṇīṣa vimale hūṃ phat’. It is traditionally placed over the entrance. The mantra might have been depicted on one of the temple floors, it might have been lost or else the inscription was never a part of the temple decorative design. The second inscription is ‘oṃ namo ratna trayāya’ ‘Bow to the Three Jewels’, and that inscription was also never found in the St. Petersburg Buddhist temple.

A typological Study of the Historical Mosques in Erbil City

A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. Erbil city contains a collection of historical mosques built in different eras dating back to 900 years ago. This paper highlights the plan typology of mosques and compares them with the known Islamic architectural typologies in an attempt to fill this gap of knowledge on such topics, especially with regard to the built environment of historic mosques in the city of Erbil. The central question of the research was: is the type of plans of the historical mosques in Erbil city related to a specific style in Islamic architecture? The aim of the research is to study the plan layout typology of mosques and to identify to which extent these typologies connected with Islamic known styles. The methodology is offering the known Islamic styles around the world with examples, selecting 5 historical mosques for analyzing their plan morphologies graphically according to (shape of the prayer hall, corridor, and courtyard) then comparing these plans with the plans of Islamic styles. From the analysis, a typological tendency in the historical mosques of Erbil city was recognized. The discussion in this paper emphasizes the correlation between the typology of historical mosques in Erbil city with the known Islamic architectural typologies of mosques. As a result, the architectural typologies of the floor plan of historical mosques in Erbil city were identified. The study concluded several types of plans, such as Ottoman style, Umayyad style, and irregular plan style. The current research revealed that the typology of plans in historical mosques in Erbil city related to the plan typology of Islamic known styles.

EFFECTS OF HOOVERING ACTIVITIES ON BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS AND PARTICULATE MATTER LEVELS IN MAIN PRAYER HALLS OF MALAYSIAN MOSQUES

In Malaysia, carpets are commonly used as finishing flooring material in the main prayer hall of mosques. In cleaning carpets, hoovering has been the most popular method, but it directly triggers the uplifting of dust that may contain bacteria and fungi. Hoovering activities and ventilation strategies (air conditioning split units (ACSUs) or by active ventilation (non-ACSUs)) can affect the prevalence of bacterial and fungal growth. This study aimed to establish the total bacterial counts, total fungal counts and also PM10 concentrations under different ventilation strategies (ACSUs and non-ACSUs) in the main prayer halls of mosques. Identification of bacterial and fungal species also took place in this study. Sampling was performed in 25 mosque buildings (17 ACSUs and 8 non-ACSUs) with carpeted flooring on Zohor-Asar and Friday-Asar prayer sessions at Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Results revealed that the total bacterial counts, total fungal counts and mean PM10 concentrations were higher in mosques with ACSUs than in mosques with non-ACSUs at concentrations ranging from 166cfu/m3 to 660 cfu/m3, from 118 cfu/m3 to 660 cfu/m3 and from 11.15 ± 9.32 µg/m3 to 49.30 ± 13.13 µg/m3, respectively. The total bacterial counts exceeded the acceptable guideline limit by the Industrial Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality (ICOP), but the total fungal counts and PM10 concentrations did not. In some mosques, the total bacterial and fungal counts did not decrease even after hoovering activities were completed. The dominant types of bacteria found in the mosque buildings were Staphylococcus spp., Bacillus spp. and Micrococci spp., whilst the dominant fungal species was Aspergillus niger. Although the findings were not alarming, care should be taken by mosques authorities especially while and after hoovering, to ensure that, the indoor air quality in mosques are being maintained within the permissible limit to protect worshippers from being exposed to bacterial and fungal.

Indoor Chemical Air Contaminants in Main Prayer Hall during Jumaat Prayer in Mosques with Different Mechanical Ventilation

Muslims generally pray five times a day. Every Friday, adult male Muslims congregate to perform Jumaat prayer, causing increased number of worshippers in mosques and vehicle movements. Consequently, indoor chemical air contaminants are produced inside and outside mosques. This study evaluated the compliance of indoor chemical air contaminants (CO, O3, TVOC, CH2O, and PM10) during Jumaat and Asar prayers in two mosques having different mechanical ventilations (i.e., air conditioning and non-air conditioned system) with the guideline limit recommended by Malaysia’s Industrial Code of Practice. Chemical air contaminants were monitored from 1200HH to 1700H in the air-conditioned mosque and from 1200H to 1730H in the non-air conditioned system mosque, which were the times for Jumaat and Asar prayers. The monitoring was conducted from November 2016 to March 2017, during the Northeast monsoon. Results showed that the mean concentrations of the four chemical air contaminants in both mosques did not exceed the acceptable guideline limit. The mean CO, TVOC, CH2O, and PM10 concentrations in the air-conditioned mosque were 0.29 ppm, 354.09 ppb, 31.28 ppb, and 13.45 μg/m3; those in the non-air conditioned system mosque were 2.36 ppm, 344.32 ppb, 19.78 ppb, and 49.91 μg/m3, respectively. However, the air-conditioned mosque’s maximum PM10 concentration of 164.48 μg/m3 exceeded the acceptable guideline limit of 150 μg/m3. Moreover, both mosques’ mean O3 concentrations of 140 and 80 ppb exceeded the limit of 50 ppb, respectively. These results suggested that the concentrations of three chemical air contaminants (TVOC, O3, and CH2O) in the air-conditioned mosque were higher than those in the non-air conditioned system mosque possibly because of the inadequate ventilation system inside the air-conditioned building. Therefore, air-conditioned mosques should have a good ventilation system to provide suitable temperature and humidity for the Jemaah, as well as sufficient amounts of air to remove indoor chemical air contaminants.

Compliance of Water Closet Facilities in Mosques with Malaysian Standards, Guideline and Legislation

A mosque often has a main prayer hall and other ancillary spaces. These spaces include water closets that provide general facilities, such as wash-hand basins, ablution areas, shower areas and water cubicles (including those for the disabled). The specifications for the design of these ancillary components are defined in various Malaysian standards and guidelines relevant to water closet design. They are namely, Malaysian Standard MS 2577: 2014 (Architecture and Asset Management of Masjid – Code of Practice), Malaysian Standard MS 2015: Part 1: 2006 (Public Toilet – Part 1: Minimum Design Criteria), Malaysian Standard MS 1184: 2014 (Universal Design and Accessibility in the Built Environment – Code of Practice, Second Revision ), JKR 1999 (Guidelines on Buildings Requirements for Disabled Persons) and UBBL: 1984 (Unit Building By-Laws – Part III: Space, Light and Ventilation). Access audit was conducted in this study to investigate the compliance of mosque water closets with these national standards and guidelines and to obtain insights into the actual situation. A five-point rating scale was developed for the access audit (1=not provided; 2=provided but below the recommendation; 3=provided and exactly as the recommendation; 4=provided but above the recommendation; 5=provided but not in the recommendation). The scores of every criterion were computed to determine the compliance percentage. The study was conducted in five mosques to assess the on-site and as-built compliance of their water closets. The results showed that compliance percentages of the studied mosques ranged from only 43% to 64%, which indicated that the provisions of water closet facilities were not fully in compliance with the stipulated national standard, guidelines and legislation due to the lack of awareness and less prioritization on the requirements for water closet facilities.

A look into the evolution of the Hünkar Mâhfil, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries

When the Ottoman sultan attended service at the imperial mosque, he had his own private quarter — the hünkar mühfil (the sultan's loge) where he would relax and pray in seclusion. In general, an imperial mosque involved a set of signs that reinforced its imperial identity and that of its patron, one of which was the sultan's mühfil (box or loge). (Necipoglu 2005: 20) Moreover, the style of mosques varied according to patron, location, function, decade and architect and being an integral part of the mosque, the sultan's mühfil echoed these variations. The hünkar måhfil witnessed a subtle but marked transformation whether in architectural terms or the symbolic meaning it stood for. It began with the sultan's måhfil at the back of the prayer hall facing the mihrab (niche) at the Yesil Cami. By the sixteenth century, the evolution in architecture necessitated its shift to the southeastern corner of the qibla wall however it remained simple and accessible from a private portal on the outside. It is in the seventeenth century that the Sultan Ahmet Cami marked a shift in the concept and magnitude of the hünkar måhfil with a large ramp leading to a gallery (later pavilion) and then the sultan's måhfil at the back of the mosque. By the nineteenth century, the sultan required greater ceremonial pomp and thus the pavilion was moved to the front of the mosque and became incorporated with the portico. The contrast is very impressive between the hünkar måhfils of earlier mosques and those of mosques from the later nineteenth century. This evolution, visible in the plans, architectural configuration and decorative schemes, was inspired by more than just a need to experiment with space and form.

ESTIMATING SOUND ABSORPTION IN COEFFICIENT OF PRAYERS IN MOSCQUES

The article deals with analysing sound absorption of prayers in big congregational mosques. Peculiarity of sound absorption measurement in prayer halls is linked with the capability of mosque worshipers to pray in different poses with diverse arrangements as opposed to the traditional halls where people usually sit in chairs. This factor has a strong influence over the sound absorption coefficient which should be taken into account in acoustical design of such buildings. Within the framework of this study sound absorption coefficients (SAC) were measured using reverberation room method for people praying on carpets in different poses. Calculated data have been

Factors contributing in the design of environmentally sustainable mosques

Built environment is one of the most energy intensive sectors in today's world and has a huge environmental impact. In order to reduce its ecological footprint, buildings need to be environmentally sustainable. Similar to other buildings, most modern mosques are made out of regional context and thus are environmentally unsustainable. Unfortunately, there is a huge lack of research or case studies on how sustainable mosques should be designed. Some studies highlight that mosques, in general, waste a huge amount of energy due to energy inefficient design and hence the energy saving potential would be immense. Keeping that fact into consideration, this paper identifies the factors that influence mosque sustainability with the aim to provide a guideline in order to build more environmentally sustainable mosques. Through comparing established passive designing techniques with characteristics of mosques and available research, this paper shortlists four major design factors – i) spatial layout and volume, ii) fixed orientation of prayer hall, iii) occupancy pattern and iv) user activity level and clothing type. By keeping these four criteria in consideration during the design phases, mosques can be made environmentally sustainable through optimized energy performance and reduced energy wastage during the occupancy stage. Furthermore, some recommendations are provided for each design stage that may prove to be helpful for the sustainable design of mosques. These four design factors may serve as a basis for further studies in order to establish a proper and thoroughly researched climate and region-specific guideline for energy efficient and sustainable mosque designing.

An Old Ritual Capital, a New Ritual Landscape: Understanding the Transformation of Angkor Thom, Cambodia through the Construction and Placement of Theravāda »Buddhist Terraces«

This paper serves as the first focused study since 1918 exploring the sub-structural remains of Theravāda Buddhist monasteries, known to scholarship as »Buddhist terraces«, at the Cambodian Khmer capital of Angkor Thom. Thought to have been constructed between the late 13th-16th centuries, prayer halls (vihara or praḥ vihar) and other Theravāda buildings are seen by traditional scholarship to be the products of an officially undocumented but visible religious transition from the Khmer Brahmano-Buddhist royal cult, manifested through the construction of universal temple-mountains and esoteric religious practices, to a more socially-inclusive monastic tradition which abandoned epigraphy, the deification of kings, and large-scale religious building. Data acquired from two seasons of site investigations within Angkor Thom has revealed an expansive collection of over seventy »Buddhist terraces« demarcated by sīmā boundary stones, suggesting not only a notable Theravāda building campaign within this cosmologically designed Mahāyāna Buddhist urban space but also the conversion and incorporation of Brahmano-Buddhist monuments as landmarks of the new religion. The interaction of Buddhist monastic architecture with non-religious urban infrastructure, too, most notably the road-grid of Angkor Thom previously mapped through LiDAR and GIS, has revealed intriguing patterns of construction that appear to match a configuration with the southerly temple of Angkor Wat, heavily restored as a royally patronized Theravāda sanctuary in the mid-16th century. Understanding the significance of this shift is necessary to understanding the re-appropriation of the vast urban ritual landscape of Angkor, and in turn serves as a valid study for further understanding the significance and retransformation of ritual space transcending specifically-delineated historical epochs.

Numerical modeling of the microclimate and air quality of an Orthodox church in Saint-Petersburg

A numerical model of the microclimate and air quality in the premises of an Orthodox church is built in STAR CCM+ software. The building of the Church of the Nativity with a capacity of 900 people in St. Petersburg was adopted for modeling. The model takes into account features of architecture, heating equipment, the number of people and candles. There is a warm floor in the prayer hall to compensate for the loss of heat. The supply of fresh air in the serviced area is provided by inclined falling jets, and the removal of air is provided through the transom. The distribution of velocity and temperature fields and concentrations of CO2 in the main premises of the church (vestibule, prayer hall, altar) was obtained under non-stationary operation and full capacity of the church. The conclusion was made about the provision of normalized microclimate parameters in the premises of the church with the adopted design solutions for heating and ventilation systems.

A Tale of Two Mosques: Marrakesh’s Masjid al-Jamiʿ al-Kutubiyya

Abstract The Kutubiyya Mosque, the hallmark monument of the Almohad dynasty (1121–1269) in their capital city of Marrakesh, has resisted scholarly interpretation due to its unique plan, featuring two prayer halls wedged apart by the monumental minaret. The south-facing qibla and the architectural use of a prior dynasty’s palatial remains further complicate the narrative surrounding the function of the mosque within the urban fabric and the Almohads’ dynastic self-concept. This article argues that such idiosyncrasies are indicative of the Almohads’ sensitivity to the intellectual, religious, and legal arguments of the day, expressed through a deliberate adaptation or repudiation of the architectural precedents in the Islamic West. The Kutubiyya must be understood as a monumental record of the dynastic shifts in ideology and identity as the Almohads struggled to define themselves against their predecessors and competitors. The site’s unique plan and complex construction history are the physical evidence of this struggle, which makes the role of the Kutubiyya in the urban history of Marrakesh all the more significant.

The Usefulness of Main Prayer Hall of Masjid Agung Islamic Center of Lhokseumawe, Aceh - Indonesia

Spatial design of masjids is typically the result of duplicating or replicating typology considered appropriate by the Muslim community. Often, this approach results in a massive centralized main prayer space that is underutilized and may contradict fundamental Islamic principles derived from the Quran and Hadith (canonical sayings of Prophet Muhammad ) This article attempts to reveal the utilization of the main praying hall at Masjid Agung Islamic Center (MAIC) of Lhokseumawe. Further, this study challenges the MAIC in light of the Islamic principle of ‘avoiding exaggeration’. Observation was conducted over 30 days alongside an exploration of values and principles guiding Islamic Architecture according to Quran and Hadith. Findings show the utilization of the main prayer hall of MAIC averaged 3.24% on a daily basis and 3.26% for Shalah (ritual prostration performed five times a day); clearly, a sign of wasted space. Results of this study are expected to stimulate discussion in the area of design and planning of Islamic Architecture toward a wiser design, particularly in Aceh Province of Indonesia.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF PRAYER HALLS IN MODERN SAUDI MASJIDS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CITY OF JEDDAH

Prayer hall, where traditional Muslim prayers take place, is the most important element of Masjids (mosques). Prayer halls are historically shaped as simple orthogonal walled spaces. Over time, little changes have occurred to them. Recently, with the evolution of architectural schools of thought and the advent of new construction and electromechanical systems, prayer halls have been subject to creativity and experimentation. Architects designed prayer halls with different shapes, spatial configurations and forms which, in some instances, contradict with the essentials of prayer. This research attempts to monitor and classify different types of contemporary prayer halls according to their spatial configuration with special reference to the Saudi Arabian context. Taking the city of Jeddah as a case study, a representative sample of masjids is surveyed, documented, analyzed and classified. The analysis is based on shape, enclosure, symmetry and complexity of prayer halls space. The study concludes basic and non-basic prayer halls and their corresponding bisects. The classification, however, constitutes a base upon which design criteria for prayer halls across the Islamic countries can be built.

THE STATICS OF SPACE SYNTAX: ANALYSIS FOR STATIONARY OBSERVERS

Space Syntax is a set of techniques for the analysis of spatial configurations of all kinds including architectural designs. Traditional Space Syntax has been devoted to analysing dynamic views of an observer moving through space, which is the case in most building spaces. However, some architectural spaces are usually experienced from static viewpoints. Consequentially, the way this space is viewed has a significant impact on the spatial cognition and experience of the occupants. Examples of such buildings where the occupant may observe spaces from mostly static points of view are religious spaces such as mosque or churches’ prayer halls. This paper presents an analysis of a typical “static space” in terms of its spatial logic. A typical configuration for a prayer hall consisting of a bilateral symmetry space with four columns is considered. This configuration is manifested in many religious buildings and is assessed using visibility graphs, axial lines as well as various isovist field properties and measures. This paper shows how the most basic alterations to the configuration of the plan can affect the spatial experience and cognition of the place. In addition, special Space Syntax measures that are relevant to the design of the static spaces are extracted and discussed as well as the consequences of an omni-visual observer of typical Space Syntax in comparison to the directional observer in a static space. The analysis presented in the paper has implications for both architectural designs of spaces with similar configurations as well as for research on Space Syntax focusing on stationary observers.

THE IMPACT OF BACKGROUND MUSIC ON THE DURATION OF CONSUMER STAY AT STORES: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN MALAYSIA

Consumers spend more time shopping and expect value-added options like backgroundmelodious songs, ample car parking, good ambience, prayer halls and rest rooms. The mainconcern is whether these facilities prolong consumers stay in the store and increase businesssales. This research article is about the relationship between the background music tempo andthe duration of consumers’ stay in the stores. Data from 177 respondents were received andanalyzed. The results show that the tempo of music is significantly affecting the emotionalstate of the consumers; fast tempo music increasing the pleasure and arousal levels. Slowtempo music has consumers stay longer in restaurants and supermarkets. However, the tempoof music does not play a significant role in manipulating the duration consumers spend in abook store and apparel shop.Keywords: Background Music; Arousal; Consumer Behavior; Shopping Experience; Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Model.

Innovative ordinariness and ritual change in a Jerusalem Minyan

ABSTRACTIn this article, I present an ethnographic analysis of ritual change in the communal prayers of a Jerusalem congregation that promotes gender equality within the framework of Orthodox-oriented halakha. While scholars have examined how ritual change in Jewish communities develops through the reinterpretation and reutilization of religious texts, practices and objects, my fieldwork reveals how change is shaped by people’s habitus – their ways of being in the world. Communal prayers in this congregation exemplify what I call an “innovative ordinariness” of religious change. Members view and experience their communal rituals as “ordinary” due to their perception of their prayer hall as a familiar spatial and auditory environment. This ordinariness facilitates creative and innovative uses of religious practices. The data outlined here are based on field research during which I participated in the congregation’s services and communal activities, and held interviews and informal conversations with members. This case study depicts ways in which members of Israeli Orthodox society apply their cultural toolkit to create religious spaces that accommodate their gender-egalitarian values, beliefs and lifestyles and, at the same time, produce religiosity that is experienced and understood as legitimate. By doing so, I argue, they assign new meanings to traditional Orthodox categories.

Facters affected trends of Contemporary Mosques Architecture

Recently new trends of mosques’ architecture have appeared. These trends differed from those of traditional ones in charictaristics which include two and three dimentional level. The traditional mosques' architecture are affected by several factors, so the research problem is (lack of knoweledge about factors forming traditional mosques' architecture and its effect on contemporary trends of mosques' architecture).The hypotheses of research is (the functional, aesthetic and symbolic religious factors of style are the most active factors in forming contemporary trends of mosques' architecture than religious and environmental factor).The research conclusion is that the symbolic functional factor is most effective factor in forming the layout of contemporary trends of mosques architecture while aesthetic and symbolic religious factors represent the factors that form main prayer hall and formal level of new trends. 

Seismic Damage Assessment of an 891 Years Old Historic Masonry Mosque

Diyarbakir Grand Mosque is one of the oldest and the most significant mosques in the Islamic world and the Mesopotamia. The mosque was heavily damaged due to fire following an earthquake which was predicted 8 magnitude in 1114. It was rebuilt between 1117 and 1125. It is predicted that a great earthquake in the forthcoming years will be occurred in the region. Therefore, conservation and retrofitting works should execute for this 891 years old building. In this study, nonlinear seismic analyses of the main prayer hall of the mosque are performed and damage assessment of it due to a probable great earthquake is determined. Material properties of the mosque are defined by using nondestructive tests. Three level seismic acceleration data are produced by considering seismic characteristics of the region. Damage regions on the mosque are obtained under these earthquake loads. Suggestions about retrofitting of this significant historical mosque are recommended.

Acoustical Properties of Contemporary Mosques

AbstractReligious buildings are important for many communities because of their representation of different beliefs. In such structures, the sense of individuality or unity & togetherness are created according to variable worship activities; these different uses have also different acoustical requirements. In order to create the desired feeling in the space at the required time, rooms should be evaluated in terms of acoustical conditions.In the study, it is aimed to investigate the objective parameters of sound of the main prayer hall of the Bedirye Tiryaki Mencik Mosque, which was built recently in Manisa (Turkey). It is one of the modern examples of mosque architecture in Turkey. The structure differs from other contemporary examples with the design approach and construction technology. The mosque was built by using prefabrication technology for the entire structure. The acoustical evaluation of this recent example by comparing the recommended values of objective parameters shows that the building has balance between architectural and acoustical design.

Lights for the enlightened

At the Lingshed Gompa, a Buddhist monastery high in the Indian Himalayas, the prayer hall is dark. Of course it’s dark: The sun set 2 hours ago. On any other night, an apprentice monk would have hurried to light kerosene lamps and candles, virtually the only source of artificial illumination in this remote spot. Tonight, though, the lamps and candles remain unlit, and in the hushed murk of the prayer hall, monks and engineers sit in close quarters on the floor and wait, not making a sound, not moving a muscle.