ABSTRACT
The idea of location geographic, cultural, spiritual, and historicis particularly important when considering Larabanga. Like Larabanga's domestic compounds, the ancient mosque is also a structure that can accommodate growth and adaptation within the congregation through the additionin the clearing next to the structure of informal prayer hall spaces. This mobile and transient mosque space is made possible by the fact that the idea of a mosque itself as a simple space for prayer is not bound by any particular architectural or even three-dimensional form. The ritualized process of 'creating' and participating in ephemeral mosque space reinforces the social order of a community through the organization of bodies in space according to age, gender, and religious hierarchy. The evenings and nights during Ramadan are characterized by intensive prayer, usually taking place in mosques scattered throughout the village. The 'mosque' slowly winds way through the labyrinth of the village to the founder's grave, which is the next 'mosque reification' site.
