Kapitan Keling Mosque

definitely check out this unique addition to the georgetown skyline. it's one of the more striking buildings in the georgetown area, beautifully designed

I treveling some times through moslim world and now I distinguishing some of new designed style of mosque. Mosque in whole Malajsia country have local desing. We only saw outside part of mosque because entrance was closed.

It was huge and impressive, located on corner of Buckingham and Pitt Street with nice parking surrounding it.

This mosque was built originaly for the Indian Muslim community in Penang in the early 1800s. You can see that it would be easy to imagine that Penang is all about the Straits Chinese culture, but historically there has also been a significant Indian presence here. The stone to build this mosque was brought in from India itself. There was an original grant of 18 acres of land, which over the years, by virtue of inevitable encroachment and greed, has diminished to just 8 acres. There have been refurbishments, additions, renovations over the years. In the light of this history of encroachment, at the turn of this century the Malaysian Government set up a body to oversee the welfare of this site. Our trishaw driver was an Indian Muslim, so it was with great pride that he brought us to this mosque. We were allowed to enter, but, as is the custom, we needed to remove our shoes. Women are provided with a coverall coat, and in deference to custom, you should cover your head with a scarf. Mosques. like the religion, Islam, is fairly abstract. There are no depictions of animals or humans in the art work, just designs and shapes. In the same way, the real interest for us, in this place was the people we met and spoke with, rather than any visual attraction. The mosque is a fine piece of restored architecture, with a fine dome and an excellent minaret. But the real pleasure was an opportunity to sit in a room at the base of the minaret and have a deep discussion with the community's religious advisor and discuss interfaith issues, as well as his perspective on what is going on in the Islamic world right now in terms of popular movements. This man was extraordinarily articulate, well read and well able to speak across belief systems without being alienating. We left this place with our cultural tank full. The site is interesting enough to photograph, but for us it was more about an experience.