Al-Abrar Mosque

Description:

• This mosque, also called Masjid Chulia after the Chulias, the group of Indian moneylender immigrants who funded its construction (masjid is Malay for mosque), was originally erected as a thatched building in 1827, thus its Tamil name Kuchu Palli, which means "hut mosque." The building that stands today was built in the 1850s, and even though it faces Mecca, the complex conforms with the grid of the neighborhood's city streets. It was designated a national monument in 1974, and in the late 1980s, the mosque underwent major renovations that enlarged the mihrab and stripped away some of the ornamental qualities of the columns in the building. The one-story prayer hall was extended upward into a two-story gallery. Little touches like the timber window panels and fanlight windows have been carried over into the new renovations.

• © Frommer's 2012