Kalhuvakaru Mosque - The Legendary Travelling Mosque of Maldives Settles Down Once Again

There is a lot of things you could view and experience in Maldives which cannot be achieved anywhere else. One thing which we can proudly point out in this regard is the still standing uniquely built coral stone mosques located at all corners of the island nation. Some of such mosques have also been declared as world heritage sites, as no parallel to another.

Amongst these mosques, there is one very special one that we locally refer to as the ‘Travelling Mosque’. The official title the mosque has been given is ‘Kalhuvakaru Mosque’. It is said to have been built in 1789. You may be wondering at this point, how can a mosque travel? It sounds absurd but the answer is pretty simple. This gem of a mosque was built in a manner that it can be dismantled easily and moved around from one place to another. Although originally built and situated in Male’, this mosque has moved about and settled in more places than any one of us could have in a lifetime.

However, it is fresh in most of our memories that the last place the mosque was seen was at the inside of Sultan’s Park prior to its dismantle in 2016. After 4 long years, it has been reassembled at relocated to a different area of the same park.

During a ceremony held yesterday, the President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih inaugurated the mosque and the adjoining park area. In addressing the audience, he extended his gratitude for Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Ms. Yumna Maumoon and her team for their diligent work on the restoration process. 

(Cover Photo: Presidency Maldives)