Masjid Nagore Dargha Sheriff, Penang - 1803

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(Masjid Nagore Dargha Sheriff, Penang)

5.416247 100.338818
05°24′58.49″N 100°20′19.74″E

Masjid Nagore Dargha Sheriff was built in 1803 by Muslims of southern Indian origin, then known as the Chuliers by the British. Soon after Captain Francis Light landed on Penang Island in 1786, the Chuliers, who were mostly merchants and moneylenders, began to populate Malabar Street in great numbers, causing the street to be renamed Chulia Street in 1798. The mosque was constructed on the original section of Chulia Street, before its gradual extension westwards.

The mosque is the oldest of its kind on Penang Island to honour Syed Shahul Hamid, a Sufi Muslim saint who lived in Nagore, India until his death in 1579. The Nagore Durgah in Nagore was built in his memory, as is the Nagore Durgha Shrine in Singapore, which was constructed later in the 1820s.

The white-coloured mosque has a built-in arcade along its King Street side, where there are shops selling Muslim prayer paraphernalia, jewellery and songkok.

 
Today, it is one of the few examples of southern Indian Muslim architecture in George Town and perhaps throughout Penang Island. It still serves as the centre of religious observance for the Indian Muslims of Tamil ethnicity. Feast days are observed at this house of worship with the distribution of food and flag raising.

(A beautiful mosque at a corner)

(Built by Muslim of Southern Indian)

(Southern Indian Muslim architecture)

(The signage of the mosque)

(The main entrance of the mosque)

(The Memorial of Syed Shahul Hamid)

(The entrance of the memorial)

(The interior of the mosque)

(A built-in archade, Kedai Songkok)