The Indonesian government is pressing ahead with its plan to build a ‘Haj Village’ in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. On 17 December 2025, Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara), Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced that it had acquired real estate and hotel assets in Thakher City, 2.5 kilometres from the Ka’bah (the House of Allah), around which Muslims circumambulate when they perform one of the five pillars of their faith, the Haj. Danantara is competing against dozens of others in a bid for another plot of land called ‘Western Hindawiyah’; at time of writing, the bidding process was in progress. If the plan materialises, Indonesia’s Haj Village will accommodate 23,000 pilgrims from Indonesia.
This idea took further shape in late 2025 under President Prabowo Subianto, who has suggested an even bigger plan, that his government would not only rent hotels for long periods but would buy hotels and land to build an Indonesian Haj Village near the House of Allah. Already, the government has purchased a hotel, the Novotel Makkah Thakher City, and a five-hectare plot in front of this hotel. Currently, the three-tower hotel has 1,461 rooms with a capacity of 4,383. The government apparently plans to build 13 new towers (on that plot) to accommodate about 19,000 more pilgrims and a mall.
Major Muslim organisations in Indonesia agree with the plan. Muhammadiyah supports it wholeheartedly, arguing it can reduce the cost of accommodation, while the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) supports it but has warned that the village’s management must be of sound social and commercial quality. Otherwise, it could create a sense of exclusivity among Indonesian haj pilgrims or worse, be a waste of public money. After all, Danantara is a sovereign wealth fund managing public money, so if it is losing money, it is bringing losses to the public.