Original Designs Back On Walls And Ceiling
Mohammed Wajihuddin TNNTHE TIMES OF INDIA: MUMBAI, 3 SEPTEMBER 2013
Mumbai: The muezzin’s call for afternoon prayer gets a bit muffled in the bustling, noisy bazaar. But that doesn’t rob the Juma Masjid at Sheikh Memon Street near Crawford Market of its grandeur. The over 200-year-old mosque, arguably the city’s oldest Juma Masjid, whose two-storeyed structure sits on an ancient tank, was recently renovated and wears a fresh coat of paint that only serves to illumine its rich history.
As you reach the mosque, a quadrangular pile of brick and stone, from its eastern gate, you are led across an open courtyard to the tank. Furnished with masonry steps and embankments, it contains 10 feet of water, which has gold and silver fish in it and a few tortoises as well.
In the 18th century, the tank was situated amid gardens and an open plot belonging to a Konkani Muslim merchant. He agreed to the mosque’s construction on the condition that the tank be preserved. The stagnant water there was recently removed, and fresh water put in.
Though there is an additional wazukhana (place for ablutions) with taps supplying water 24x7, the tank also serves the purpose. From it rise 16 stone arches which support the mosque’s fabric, while rows of pillars support the upper storey, which was added in 1837, more than two decades after the mosque was completed in 1802. This foundation of the mosque had developed cracks, which have now been fixed.
Juma Masjid is a milestone in the history of mosques in Mumbai. It pioneered the professional management of mosques and their properties. According to its records in the Juma Masjid Trust’s office, the Bombay High Court in 1897 framed a scheme to manage the mosque and its properties by a board of directors. The 11 directors, called trustees, are triennially elected by the Konkani Muslim Jamaat. “The president or nazir is elected for one year,” says a trustee who, along with the president, requested anonymity.
The structure’s terraces, balconies and delightfully decorated large windows add to its beauty. Quranic verses are painted above the windows’ colourful panels. Huge chandeliers illuminate the two massive prayer halls with a capacity of 2,000 devotees each. “On the two Eids (Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha), around 15,000 devotees visit the mosque. Every inch on the campus is occupied,” says a security guard employed by the Masjid Trust.
The original designs on the walls and the ceiling, however, were found to have been covered by nine layers of painting. These layers have been done away with, and the basic designs restored.
The ground-floor prayer hall looks nicely decorated as it features the pulpit, made of bright white marble, from where the imam delivers Friday sermons. Beside the pulpit is a small arched space created in the centre of the western wall. The imam leads prayers from this space, with followers standing in rows behind him.
Beautiful prayer mats carpet the two halls. The firstfloor hall has three big circular holes made in the ceiling, now fenced.
“They were created in the pre-microphone era to enable devotees on the upper floor to hear the imam who has always been on the ground floor,” says the guard.
Huge almirahs in the northern wall stock copies of the Quran and its commentaries. Copies of the holy book are also stacked on the shelves from where hang colourful tasbeeh (prayer beads). Not many outside the Muslim community know that Juma Masjid also houses Maharashtra’s Central Moon Committee, which announces the sighting of the new moon, including the one for Eid which comes after Ramzan.
As you reach the mosque, a quadrangular pile of brick and stone, from its eastern gate, you are led across an open courtyard to the tank. Furnished with masonry steps and embankments, it contains 10 feet of water, which has gold and silver fish in it and a few tortoises as well.
In the 18th century, the tank was situated amid gardens and an open plot belonging to a Konkani Muslim merchant. He agreed to the mosque’s construction on the condition that the tank be preserved. The stagnant water there was recently removed, and fresh water put in.
Though there is an additional wazukhana (place for ablutions) with taps supplying water 24x7, the tank also serves the purpose. From it rise 16 stone arches which support the mosque’s fabric, while rows of pillars support the upper storey, which was added in 1837, more than two decades after the mosque was completed in 1802. This foundation of the mosque had developed cracks, which have now been fixed.
Juma Masjid is a milestone in the history of mosques in Mumbai. It pioneered the professional management of mosques and their properties. According to its records in the Juma Masjid Trust’s office, the Bombay High Court in 1897 framed a scheme to manage the mosque and its properties by a board of directors. The 11 directors, called trustees, are triennially elected by the Konkani Muslim Jamaat. “The president or nazir is elected for one year,” says a trustee who, along with the president, requested anonymity.
The structure’s terraces, balconies and delightfully decorated large windows add to its beauty. Quranic verses are painted above the windows’ colourful panels. Huge chandeliers illuminate the two massive prayer halls with a capacity of 2,000 devotees each. “On the two Eids (Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha), around 15,000 devotees visit the mosque. Every inch on the campus is occupied,” says a security guard employed by the Masjid Trust.
The original designs on the walls and the ceiling, however, were found to have been covered by nine layers of painting. These layers have been done away with, and the basic designs restored.
The ground-floor prayer hall looks nicely decorated as it features the pulpit, made of bright white marble, from where the imam delivers Friday sermons. Beside the pulpit is a small arched space created in the centre of the western wall. The imam leads prayers from this space, with followers standing in rows behind him.
Beautiful prayer mats carpet the two halls. The firstfloor hall has three big circular holes made in the ceiling, now fenced.
“They were created in the pre-microphone era to enable devotees on the upper floor to hear the imam who has always been on the ground floor,” says the guard.
Huge almirahs in the northern wall stock copies of the Quran and its commentaries. Copies of the holy book are also stacked on the shelves from where hang colourful tasbeeh (prayer beads). Not many outside the Muslim community know that Juma Masjid also houses Maharashtra’s Central Moon Committee, which announces the sighting of the new moon, including the one for Eid which comes after Ramzan.
(Clockwise from above left) The ground-floor prayer hall can accommodate around 2,000 devotees;the pulpit from where the imam delivers Friday sermons and a space in the western wall from where he leads prayers;the mosque sits on an ancient tank from which rise stone arches which support the whole fabric of the mosque
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