Malé and my visit to the Hukuru Miskiy
Updated: 8 hours ago
Most tourists visit the Maldives to experience life in overwater villas on its ultra-luxurious resort islands. But, the capital city of Malé has a lot to offer travellers. In her ongoing series of articles on maritime tourism and travel within India, the Indian Ocean and beyond, Anuttama Banerji explores Malé and the famous coral mosque, Hukuru Miskiy, which she had the opportunity to visit during her recent travels.
Every city in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a cynosure of all eyes. Malé, the capital of the Maldives, is no different. I had a chance to explore the city for a second time recently, when I travelled there for an academic conference hosted by the Maldives National University (MNU) and its School of Security and Strategic Studies (SSSS) at the university. I was also part of the Early/Mid-career Researcher Training Programme hosted by the centre. With the plethora of activities involved, Malé became the centre of my everyday activity.
I went to Malé in mid-August, and, as with all my previous visits, the trip coincided with my birthday. It was a joyous occasion for me, although I do not think I grew any wiser this year than I was the previous year. The excitement of visiting the Maldives again was nevertheless evident. The rapid operationalisation of Velana International Airport also surprised me. Much like many other infrastructure projects, the airport had become operational and fully functional within months of my previous visit, just nine months earlier. It made me realise how rapidly infrastructure development projects were being completed in this archipelagic state.
As I made my way from Malé to Hulhumalé, I crossed the China–Maldives Friendship Bridge, or Sinamalé Bridge, with the ocean greeting me on both sides as I travelled to my hotel in Hulhumalé. I chose to stay there to be close to the ocean and enjoy the sights and sounds of the sea.
The Sinamalé bridge is an iconic landmark of the city now and has transformed the lives of the city dwellers. It is today an indisputable landmark of the city and will remain so in the years to come. It became operational in August 2018.
I chalked out my plan for the day and headed to a now familiar place of worship and piety: the Hukuru Miskiy.
Hukuru Miskiy
The Maldives boasts of a rare cultural fusion between Buddhism and Islam and the Maldivian coral mosques exemplify this unique tradition. The Hukuru Miskiy, located in the centre of Malé, is a beautiful mosque constructed almost entirely of porite corals sourced from the sea in the fifteenth century. This mosque dates back to the seventeenth century, coinciding with the reign of Sultan Iskandar I and its architecture provides a rare glimpse into the Indian Ocean's maritime architectural traditions of the period.
While construction in ancient Maldives was clearly dependent on local materials, coral and timber came to be viewed as primary building materials because of their natural endurance. These porite coral blocks locally known as hiri-ga were removed from the seabed and air-dried while they were still soft. They were then used for construction until modern masonry made its foray into the country in the eighteenth century.
Interestingly, the mosque does not have a dome and the minaret is also unique, known locally as the Munaaru. The mosque features traditional Arabic calligraphy on the exterior and traditional local wooden carving inside. Lacquered wood panels, carved columns and assembled ceilings, joined without nails, come together to shape the mosque's grand interior. The mosque is considered one of the finest examples of sea-culture architecture and was added to UNESCO's Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in 2008. More importantly, its existence tells the story of resilience that is archetypal of maritime communities spread across the region.
Personal Impressions
I remember walking around the mosque’s compound, making mental notes of what I saw. I also recall neatly connecting the dots, making a mental map and thinking about all the similar architectural marvels that I had seen over the years. As I walked through the interior of the mosque, I felt a genuine sense of gratitude and fulfilment. The walls of the mosque spoke of the quiet resilience of the people of this seafaring country.
It dawned on me that this traditional mosque in the heart of Malé was perhaps its best kept secret. For someone with a keen interest in and knowledge of architectural history, having studied Art History at both the undergraduate and master’s levels, visiting such historical landmarks often provids a rare and distinct opportunity to appreciate the novelty and ingenuity that came to be attached with human craftsmanship. This craftsmanship has evolved over centuries and has given shape to human civilisation and history. For seafaring communities, this ingenuity has helped shape their unique cultural and civilisational identities, depending on the regions from which they emerged. To my mind, this intertwining of faith and culture has been an evolving process that has continued across the vagaries of time and space, shaping our collective societal consciousness.
A random thought also crossed my mind as I explored the mosque: while we could potentially acquire the economic means to visit such places, we did not always possess the currency to appreciate their richness. We might convince ourselves that we have acquired sufficient knowledge of art and history, but as humans, we are only partially capable of touching the tip of the iceberg.
I walked through the alleyways of the mosque, observing the ‘unconventional’ minbar and the mihrab. The mosque’s distinct architecture made a natural impression on my mind. Unlike the true arch found in Arabia, which I was familiar with from having seen multiple mosques such as the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and other sites across the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia, the simple replication of the Islamic ‘arch’ in Malé made me wonder about the craftsmanship involved. It was simple, straightforward and largely bereft of the ornamentation that was often visible in mosques across other Islamic communities.
Much like the temples of South India, where, in the words of the famous historian Richard Burton, ‘temple economies’ of the time came to thrive, religious sites across the world shaped social and cultural discourse throughout history. Malé and the Maldives were no different where faith became the unifying and centralising factor in bringing people across the islands together. In medieval times, the centre of gravity was often the religious place of worship, and such sites also functioned as repositories of traditional knowledge and spaces for collective information-sharing. The Hukuru Miskiy was no different and played that performative role during its time.
Today, the Hukuru Miskiy continues to play that role, anchoring community life in the Maldives. More than a tourist site, its enduring presence remains a telling reminder about the nature of social formations and cultural patterns that have shaped human life in this archipelagic state.
This thought kept me occupied as I stepped out of the mosque, gazing up at the blue sky before making my way to my next destination.
Anuttama Banerji
Anuttama Banerji is a political analyst based in New Delhi, India. She graduated with a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics & Political Science in 2018.
Her research lies at the intersection of water and maritime security and South Asian geopolitics. She is a prolific writer and commentator and her work has been published by The Diplomat, ThePrint, South Asia Monitor, South Asian Voices, among other national and international forums.
She is a polyglot and is fluent in English, French and Urdu in addition to her native Bengali and Hindi.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
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