KALHU VAKARU MISKIIY

The Kalhu Vakaru mosque is also known as the traveling mosque. Built in 1789 from blocks of coral, this small mosque has been moved frequently throughout its history. It was originally located in the center of the island, close to the national stadium. In the 1970s, President Ibrahim Nasir put it up for auction. These were won by the owner of the Furana Tourist Resort, who moved it to his island hotel. When President Abdul Gayoom was elected in 1978, he brought it back to Malé. It was installed on the outskirts of Sultan Park. It was dismantled again in 2016 at the request of President Abdulla Yammen, who wished to redevelop the site into a mini-amusement park reserved for Maldivians. There were plans to send the Kalhu Vakaru mosque to the island of Thinadhoo in the Gaafu Dhaalu atoll to replace the destroyed Friday Mosque. But the project remained on the drawing board. The election of a new president in 2018, Ibrahim Solih, has revived the reinstallation of the small mosque. Numbered blocks of coral are being reassembled one by one, puzzle-style, on Chaandhanee Magu, on the site of the former Maldivian telecoms headquarters. The building reopened to the public in January 2019, after months of reconstruction and renovation. A new framework supports the corrugated iron roof, which extends well beyond the structure to protect the finely sculpted coral base. A small prayer room features a lacquered wood coffered ceiling.