Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said Wednesday that the future capital, Nusantara, will have other places of worship, as the city began construction on a mosque worth Rp 940 billion or around $60 million.

Jokowi is currently in the new capital Nusantara to launch a series of projects, including the State Mosque. The Public Works Ministry is in charge of building this mosque, which will be able to accommodate about 61,000 worshippers. The mosque, which Jokowi claims would have an incredible exterior and interior, is set to finish construction by the end of this year.

During the ceremony, Jokowi said that Nusantara would have a church and other places of worship, although the president did not say when the actual construction would start.

“We will build a church, cathedral, vihara, and temple here [in Nusantara]. This will show how diverse we [Indonesia] are, but we will make sure to continue to live in harmony with one another,” Jokowi said in the broadcast stream of the mosque’s groundbreaking ceremony.

“Hopefully, the State Mosque will strengthen the religious tolerance in this new capital,” Jokowi said. 

The Home Affairs Ministry data shows that 86.93 percent of 272.23 million Indonesians are Muslims as of end-2021, according to database portal Databoks. Followed by Christians (7.47 percent) and Catholics (3.08 percent). About 1.7 percent of Indonesians are Hindus, while 0.74 percent others are Buddhists. Around 0.03 percent of Indonesians believe in Confucianism.

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