Qibla direction in Banjar

How to face the Qibla in Banjar

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 25.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 295.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 25° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Banjar, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Banjar to Mecca points to 293.3°, only 2.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 295.3° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 295.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Banjar (7.1955° S, 107.4313° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Banjar to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,025 km from Banjar as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,139 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 56 min, although most pilgrims from Banjar connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Banjar run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Banjar rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Banjar

On 223 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Banjar while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 March 2027 it happens at 12:41 local time.

On 142 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 08:55.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Banjar: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Banjar compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Jakarta (295.2°), and Mecca is 105 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Soreang (20 km), prays towards 295.2°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 140 cities in Indonesia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 290.2° in Merauke to 295.5° in Pelabuhanratu, a spread of 5.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Indonesia.

Qibla in cities near Banjar

• Soreang295.2° · 20 km
• Bandung295.2° · 36 km
• Padalarang295.2° · 40 km
• Paseh295.2° · 42 km
• Cileunyi295.1° · 46 km
• Cianjur295.3° · 53 km