It is always very interesting to hear or read what visiting foreigners say or write about our country or regarding one of our famous monuments or our culture. The minaret of the Friday Mosque being one of the most striking monuments in Male’, let us read what one Englishman wrote when he first saw the MUNNAARU.
In his book “Two Thousand Isles - A Short Account of the People, History and Customs of the Maldive Archipelago” T W Hockly wrote in vivid details on the famous icon’s first impression on him. The year was 1926 and this is what the English gentleman wrote:
“The minaret which appears on the Maldivian stamp is rather exceptional and of a kind I had never seen before. It is a large, round, white tower about fifty feet in height. On top of this a tower of smaller diameter which is superimposed on the lower one like the tier of a wedding cake”
The stamp he was referring to was the first Maldive stamp with a drawing of this very Maldivian monument. According to our first President Mohamed Amin Didi, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar built this minaret in 1085 Hegira, or around 1674 AD. (Almost a century before the American Independence!) The Sultan also appointed a Muezzin to call for prayers five times a day and was paid from the Government coffers. The Minaret was completed in the year 27th of his long reign. And in 1324 H (around 1906 AD) Sultan Mohamed Shamsuddeen renovated the Munnaru and replaced the coir ropes which were used to bind the Munnaru with huge brass sheets as reinforcements. Six such brass belts on the lower section and two on the top part were used.
Even today, almost 337 years later this historic monument commands our respect and admiration and our visitors certainly look upon it in wonderment!
1 comment:
Nice piece of writing on the famous Munnaru! The photo is interesting too as it shows the old Munnaru and the new one the Islamic Center , a kind of juxtaposed image featuring both historical and modern architecture of Minaret!
Thanks!
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