TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF PALACES, MOSQUES AND TOMBS
The Terengkera Mosque in Melaka, probably the oldest surviving mosque from Dutch colonial times, was constructed around 1728.
Although very few timber palaces over 100 years have survived in Malaysia, in feudal Malay society the palaces of the sultans were of paramount importance, not only as places of residence but as centres of administration, learning and culture. The palaces not only incorporated many of the beliefs of the sultans and reflected their way of life but, using the resources abundant in the surrounding countryside, were also completely attuned to the environment. Built on a larger scale than the traditional Malay house, they nevertheless contained the same basic architectural elements: a post-and-beam structure supporting one or, occasionally, more storeys or a series of connected annexes, and steeply inclining roofs in the style common to the various regions of the Peninsula. Elevated platforms and other internal devices signified public and private domains as well as hierarchy and formality. Elaborate carvings on the wall panels and posts, the work of skilled local craftsmen, distinguished the palaces from the homes of the common people.
Like the palaces, the first mosques in Malaysia were probably timber structures similar to the typical Malay house. Unlike these two residential forms, however, which were largely built on a rectangular plan up until the early 20th century, in the early 18th century, and continuing into the 19th century, mosques in Malaysia came to be built on a square plan with a tiered roof. This mosque style was based on the 15th-century Agung Mosque in Demak, northern Java, the prototype of the Southeast Asian Great Mosque. Following the tradition of timber construction of Malay houses and palaces, the mosque was built raised above the ground as a precaution against the degradations of insects and floods. At about the same time, a unique Melaka-style mosque emerged. Built on a square plan and on the ground, originally of wood but later of masonry, it was characterized by curved eaves, pagoda-like minarets, and stylized Oriental ornamentation.
Although Islam does not encourage the construction of elaborate edifices for remembrance of the dead, the practice of building tombs and mausoleums for royalty and well-known public figures has long been a part of the Malay tradition. The design of most of these tombs—and the larger, more stately mausoleums which may house several tombs—resembles a Malay-style pavilion, roofed in the style of the region where it is erected, and with openings to allow air and moisture to enter.