Masjid Jamae, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
Masjid Jamae
218 South Bridge Road
Masjid Jamae, or Jamae Mosque, is one of the oldest mosques in Singapore. It was established in 1826 and is located in the Chinatown district within the Central Area of Singapore's central business district. The name Masjid Jamae means "Friday Mosque". The mosque is also known as Chulia Mosque, Maideen Mosque and the Big Mosque among the Indian Muslim community in Singapore. Masjid Jamae influenced the naming of the street that runs beside it as Mosque Street.
Masjid Jamae was set up by the Chulias, Indian Muslim traders from the Coromandel Coast of South India. The Chulias established themselves as traders and money changers in Singapore, and within a short time, set up three mosques within the Chinatown area os Singapore. Masjid Jamae was the first, and was followed successively by the Al-Abrar Mosque and the Nagore Durgha, both of which are on Telok Ayer Street nearby.
Masjid Jamae consists of a covered foyer, a main prayer hall and an ancillary prayer hall, and a shrine to a local Muslim religious leader, Muhammad Salih Valinvah. The eclectic architectural style of Masjid Jamae was the work of the ever prolific architect who designed it, George Drumgoole Coleman. Coleman designed the gate in the South Indian style, but did the two prayer halls and the shrine wihin in the Neo-Classical style.
The Masjid Jamae was gazetted a National Monument of Singapore on 29 November 1974.
Associated Sites
Jamae Mosque in Singapore Travel Tips
