Malabar Mosque

Clad in eye-catching blue tiles, the Malabar Mosque is the only mosque of the Malabar Muslim community who were originally from Kerala, India and were largely textile and jewellery merchants when they arrived here. The mosque is in Kampong Glam area, at the junction of Victoria Street and Jalan Sultan. An onion dome with a crescent moon and star crested an octagonal tower, similar to the other domes.


A closer look at those bluesy tiles.

I wondered if the mosque's name is in any way related to the Marabar Caves in E M Forster's The Passage to India. So, out of curiosity, I googled and the answer is no, it's the Barabar Caves that inspired Forster's setting in the book. There was also a movie based on the book, do you remember? Apart from examining British imperialism and racism, it's got an existential theme and the cave's echo played a central role.

Although, the Malabar caves do exist, ie in Malabar, a region of southern India and comprising the northern half of the state of Kerala.

So I'll just stop confusing you.


For more scenic landscapes, go to Scenic Sunday here.