Mosque built from egg white and sand mixture

KANGAR: The Alwi Mosque's uniqueness not only lies in its beautiful classic Mughal's architecture but also on the use of the main materials in its construction, namely the egg white and sand mixture.The mosque, gazetted as a national heritage site, took almost three years to complete as the main building materials were not easy to obtain in large quantities.

"It's hard for us to imagine how many eggs were needed to build the mosque then," said Alwi Mosque committee member Abu Bakar Ariffin to Bernama here, today.

"The mosque was built in 1931 and completed in 1933 which was later officiated by the Raja of Perlis then, Raja Syed Alwi Ibni Almarhum Tuan Syed Safi Jamalullail in February of the same year. " he said.

Even without using cement or high-tech concrete mixture, the mosque's building structure remained very strong and resistant to movements, he added.

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"It is truly amazing that the mixture of egg white and sand can be this solid, but then again this was the uniqueness of yesteryear architecture, carefully crafted and highly durable," he said.

Abu Bakar also said that instead of using local builders, the construction of the mosque involved a group of specialists and craftsmen brought in from India.

He said it was understood that the British at that time were also involved with the preparation of the mosque's design which was inspired by the Kapitan Keling Mosque architecture in Penang.

"That's why the Alwi Mosque looks almost similar to the Kapitan Keling Mosque, especially in the onion-shaped dome that is made of copper," he said.

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Abu Bakar said the mosque, one of Perlis' main landmarks, was built at a total cost of RM64,684, a huge amount at that time, thanks to the contributions of various parties including money from tithe collection, government officials and Muslim businessmen as well as provisions from the state government.

Meanwhile, Alwi Mosque Imam, Mohd Shahril Mohd Shukri said the mosque also once served as a gathering site for dakwah programmes that saw both local and foreign scholars, including Zaaba and Indonesian scholar-writer Hamka being present," he said.

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