An Iftar to Remember: Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai

An Iftar to remember, at the Thousand Lights Mosque in Chennai. With stories of Muslims in Chennai. Eid Mubarak!

The Thousand Lights Mosque on Mount Road, Chennai. 

(Photo: Vikram Venkateswaran/The Quint)

The month of Ramadan has drawn to a close. Devout Muslims of the Shia order gathered in silence on Saturday, at the Thousand Lights Mosque, which is one of the oldest mosques in Chennai, to offer prayer, and to break their fast.

There were those who fast, those who serve, and those who pray. I, with my camera, was the odd one out.

Here are a few scenes from the quiet evening, and some verses from the Quran, apt for the occasion.

The Thousand Lights mosque was built in 1820 by Nawab Umdat-Ul-Umrah. 

From MacKay Garden to Mosque

In the late 1700s, the then Mayor George MacKay built a garden house over an area called the ‘Great Choultry Plains’. Thanks to his garden house, the area came to be known as ‘MacKay Gardens’.

Barely fifteen years later, it was bought by the Nawab of Wallajah, who was both courteous – taking to British customs of tea and breakfast – and at times, devious. He was an ally of the British and a great friend to Stringer Lawrence, who is often called the ‘Father of the Indian Army’.

In 1810, the Nawab’s son, Umdat-Ul-Umrah, built an assembly hall and mourning place (Ashoorkhana). Ten years later, the Thousand Lights Mosque was built in front of it.

‘Nombu Kanji’ (sacred gruel)

Final minutes of prayer.

A child volunteer serves the sacred gruel.

The cauldron in which the sacred gruel is cooked.

Father and sons feast inside the mosque.

Iftar feast in full swing.

The feast is a silent, happy affair.

The Shias also pray at the Triplicane ‘Big’ Mosque, which too was built by the Nawab of Wallajah, around twenty years earlier. Even today, a large portion of the staff are Hindus.

Children wait for the prayers to end, and for the feast to begin. The bowls will be filled by the children, with ‘Nombu Kanji’ or the sacred gruel with which the fast is broken. 

Muslims offering their prayers. Non-Muslims and journalists who wish to record the celebrations/prayers are allowed to shoot through the windows.

The Thousand Lights Mosque was built at an expense of Rs 1 lakh. It was rebuilt in 1900. In 1981, two more domes were added, thus giving the architecture a west Asian influence.

Each plate holds a few dates and ‘Idiyappam’, a form of ‘dosa’ made of steamed rice noodles. Over this, a generous portion of ‘Paya’ (soupy mutton gravy) will be poured, to complete the traditional meal.

Chennai’s Muslim Community

In 1768, the Nawab of Arcot moved to Triplicane, with over 20,000 Marakayar Muslims (Tamil-Malayalam speaking). Triplicane was then the largest community of Muslims in South India, next to Hyderabad.

By the mid-1800s, Chennai’s Muslim population was substantial, and was also split into the Urdu Muslims and the Tamil Muslims. Both sections were integral to the city’s culture and commerce. The Tamil Muslims, led by Jamal Mahomed, spearheaded an effort to gain control of trade of of skin and hides to the United States. They were very modern in their international business interests and held close economic ties with influential Hindu groups.

The Urdu-speaking Muslims – who were, at the time, the only kind of Muslims that the British recognised as being part of the ‘establishment’ – linked Chennai’s Urdu Muslims with the reforms that were underway in Muslim communities in North India.

Hot tea after a warm meal.

In the early days, over a thousand lamps would be lit to illumine the assembly hall. Hence the name ‘Thousand Lights’.