Ketchchimalai Mosque, also known as Ketchimalai Dharga, is located on a headland overlooking the port of

Beruwala Beruwala ( Sinhala:බේරුවල Tamil: பேருவளை) is a large town in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. The town covers a total area of approximately and is located on the south-west ...

, on the southwest coast of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is one of the oldest mosques in the country. According to local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, the mosque is built at the spot where the first Muslim Arab traders landed and subsequently settled in the area. It is believed that a vessel carrying seven members of the royal family of

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

came ashore at this location. They included the Sultan Ashraff Waliullah, his five brothers and a sister. When Waliullah died in 1024 AD he was buried in a tomb on the hill. Allegedly one day, when the chief of the

Masjid Al-Abrar Masjid Al-Abrar (Malay for Al-Abrar Mosque; Jawi:مسجد الأبرار) is a mosque located along Telok Ayer Street in Chinatown within the Central Area, Singapore. It is one of the earliest mosques in Singapore. The building was gazetted ...

in Beruwala was cleaning the tomb he stepped on a sharp thorn following which he rest under a tree and fell asleep. During his slumber, Waliullah appeared as a vision and sought that a mosque be built where his tomb was. Many locals mistakenly still think that Waliullah built the mosque. At that time the site was known as “Utchchamalai” in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

, which translates to “high hill”, over time this was modified to its current name of Ketchchimalai. The current building was constructed in 1911 by a wealthy Muslim businessman. It is essentially a squarish white building, with an ornate arched exterior, curving dutch-style gables, with an unusual domed

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

crowned with a crescent-and-star ornament. Outside the mosque but within its grounds are the graves of two imams (father and son) and a madrasa. The mosque is the focus for a major

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

festival held at the end of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, with large numbers of pilgrims attending. On 12 June 2015 the mosque was declared a protected archaeological site by the government.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Ketchimala Masjid website
Mosques in Sri Lanka Religious buildings and structures in Kalutara District Archaeological protected monuments in Kalutara District

See also

References

External links