Kapitan Keling Mosque

The mosque was founded around 1801 on land granted by the East India Company to the Indian Muslim community, whose headman - the Kapitan Keling, Cauder Mohudeen - gave it its name; the present building is a nineteenth-century rebuilding and expansion in a Mughal-influenced style, with a large onion dome, smaller domes on the corners and a single minaret from which the call to prayer carries down the street. The street it stands on is the one George Town people call the Street of Harmony, because within a few hundred metres are this mosque, a Chinese temple, a Hindu temple and an Anglican church, all founded within a few decades of each other - which is the fact most often cited about George Town and is, unusually, literally true rather than a tourist board line.

The main sights

• George Town's oldest mosque - founded around 1801 by the Indian Muslim community.
• A Mughal-influenced dome - the large onion dome and corner domes over the corner site.
• A single minaret - the call to prayer carrying down the street.
• The Street of Harmony - mosque, church, Chinese and Hindu temples within a few hundred metres.

When to go

All year, outside prayer times. An hour.

Things to know

Closed to visitors during prayers and around Friday midday. Robes are required and provided. The interior visit is short; much of the interest is the setting on the street.

Nearby

St George's Church, Sri Mahamariamman and Goddess of Mercy temple are on the same street.

Key facts