REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has given an Alquran calligraphy embroidered with gold thread on a piece of thick black cloth to the Istiqlal Mosque.

"The King specifically presents the gift to the Istiqlal Mosque," Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said here, Thursday.

King Salman, along with President Joko Widodo, conducted prayer at the Istiqlal mosque, then signed a guest book, and handed over the 2 x 1 meters calligraphy gift. "This prize is a symbol of great concern of Saudi Arabia government and people to Indonesia," Lukman added.

King Salman has been impressed with the mosque which established in 1978. "King Salman said that he was grateful to visit the Istiqlal Mosque," Lukman said.

When entering the mosque, King Salman was greeted by school students who were waving the national flags of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. "The King was so surprised to the extraordinary welcome of the Indonesians, the same as when he visited Bogor, West Java on the first day of his state visit. At that time, tens of thousands of people stood along the street and greeted the King despite heavy rain ," the minister explained.

After praying at Istiqlal, King Salman met a number of Islamic figures at the Presidential Palace and planted an ironwood sapling in Merdeka Palace yard in Jakarta.

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