Pawestren is the women’s prayer space that is commonly found in Javanese mosques, Indonesia. The word pawestren or paestren stems from the Javanese word estri, which means woman, to signify the women’s prayer space in the mosque. Several areas named it pedokan (from the word wedok) or pawadonan (from wadon), all of which have a similar meaning to pawestren. G. F. Pijper in Fragmenta Islamica: Studien over het Islamisme in Nederlandsch-Indie (1934) identifies that the pawestren is an essential element in Javanese mosques and has existed for centuries.
This blog contains my notes on spaces and media where spatial justice is questioned, challenged, or enacted.
