Godapitiya Mohideen Jummah Mosque

Godapitiya Mohideen Jummah Mosque (Photo credit: Dotcom Systems, Google street view)

Godapitiya Mohideen Jummah Mosque (or Porwai Muhiyaddeen Jummah Mosque) is a Muslim religious place located in Matara District, Sri Lanka.

History

The origin of Godapitiya mosque is not clear (Abeyawardana, 2004). The old mosque which was standing at this site had been damaged due to the riots occurred between Sinhalese and Muslims in 1914 (Wikramaratne, 2015). The mosque was reconstructed again to the present state in 1915. It is said that the mosque was constructed within one year employing 68 masons (Abeyawardana, 2004).

Monuments

The pond which is used for ablution is believed to be built prior to the construction of the mosque and has been built using the blocks of granite (Wikramaratne, 2015). However, the pond was tiled over recently, resulting the old granite blocks invisible (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wikramaratne, 2015).

The large bowl which is placed at the mosque is considered as a valuable artifact. During the Dutch period, it had been used to make sugar at the land called 'Paradoova' (Wikramaratne, 2015). According to the folklore, a boat had been used to bring that bowl to the mosque from its original location (Wikramaratne, 2015).

Two tombs belonging to an Islamic religious leader and his disciple are also found inside the mosque.

Incidents

Tamil Tiger rebels, (LTTE) a military group designated as a terrorist organization, carried out a suicide bomb attack near the main entrance of the Godapitiya Jumma mosque, on 10 March 2009. 15 persons were killed and at least 50 others injured (News reports from BBC: 10 March 2009; and Sunday Times: 15 March 2009).

A protected site

The ‘Dharga’ part of the Godapitiya Mohideen Jumma Mosque on No. 308 of the Godapitiya Grama Niladhari Division in the Athuraliya Divisional Secretary’s Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government Gazette notification published on 30 December 2011.

References

1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Ruhuna: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-073-4. p.62.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1739. 30 December 2011. p.1091.
3) Wikramaratne, I., 2015. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Matara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-54-2. pp.54-55.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 17 June 2022