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Kachchiwatta Mosque |
Kachchiwatta Mosque (Sinhala: මාගාල්ල කච්චිවත්ත මුස්ලිම් දේවස්ථානය) is a mosque situated on the bank of Moragoda Ela near Magalla Bridge in Makuluwa village in Galle District, Sri Lanka. It is considered one of the oldest mosques in the country. A new mosque building has been built in front of this old religious building opposite the main road.
Folklore
The origin of the Kachchiwatta mosque is obscure. Although there is no concrete evidence, this mosque is assumed to have been established in the 7th century A.D., the probable period when Arabs first set foot in Sri Lanka. Local Islamists believe that after the death of Muhammad in 632 A.D., a leader named Abdul Rahman Walliullah with his group of missionaries headed to Galle but died before arriving on the island. It is said that his body was buried at the place where the modern Kachchiwatta mosque stands. The tomb named after this leader is still preserved in the modern mosque building.
The folklore further says that Sadruddin, a son of a ruler in Yemen established a masjid at the burial place of Abdul Rahman Walliullah in 647 A.D. following the style of the Hamza masjid in Mecca. Also, the Yemenese ruler in this folklore is said to be a descendant of Abu Bakr Siddiq who is thought to have arrived in Sri Lanka in 642 A.D.
The Antiquity
The antiquity of Kachchiwatta mosque is evident when it is compared with other mosques in the nearby Galle Fort and in the surrounding area. The thick lime plaster spread over the walls of the Kachchiwatta mosque building indicates that it was renovated several times. The architectural features of the present mosque show that it is a building probably built during the Dutch Period (1602-1796 A.D.) or in the Kandyan Period. It is said that the pilgrims who came for the Hajj pilgrimage stayed at this place before departing their vessels to Mecca.
Considering its historical significance, this place was declared a site of archaeological value on 19 November 2023.
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The old well |
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Kachchiwatta Mosque |
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LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to V. M. Vidanapathirana for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.