When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Saudi Arabia in 2016, he gifted King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud a gold-plated replica of a mosque in Kerala. The Cheraman Juma Masjid in Kodungallur, believed to be the first mosque in India, has been symbolic of active trade relations between India and Arabia since ancient times.
Built in around 629 AD by Arab traders, this historical monument is now all set for a major facelift. The Muziris Heritage Project Limited (MHP) has taken up the mosque's renovation in tune with its original character and aesthetics at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore.
As part of the project, the structures added to the mosque on various occasions since 1972 by compromising its authentic historical character would be removed while the lost portions of the building would be reinstated. The newly built basement would provide space for devotees to conduct worship.
The state government has allocated Rs 1.18 crore for reinstating the lost portions.
The decision to renovate the Masjid was taken by the mosque committee in 2011. However, the delay in obtaining required approvals slowed down the work.
In 2005, then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had visited the mosque.
According to oral tradition, Cheraman Perumal was a Chera King and a contemporary of the Holy Prophet who went to Arabia and embraced Islam after meeting the Holy Prophet at Mecca.
Some years later, he sent letters to his relatives and the ruling chieftains of Malabar through his friends Malik bin Dinar and Malik bin Habib who, along with their companions, were then given permission by the local rulers to build the mosque at Kodungallur, as per information available on the PMO website.
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The mosque has an ancient oil lamp that is always kept burning and believed to be over a thousand years old. People from all religions bring oil for the lamp as an offering.
Many believe that the mosque is a testimony to Islam's arrival to India long before the Mughals came in from the northwest.
