Description of the attraction
The Zahir Mosque is considered one of the most remarkable architectural landmarks of the federal state of Kedah, and is included in the list of the ten most beautiful mosques in the world. The mosque is located in the state capital - Alor Setar, one of the oldest cities in the region.
The Zahir Mosque was built in 1912. The official opening of the mosque took place in October 1915, the ceremony was led by Sultan Abdul-Hamid Halim Shah. The building was built on the site of the cemetery, where the soldiers who died in the battle with the invaders from Siam in 1821, when the latter tried to capture Kedah, rested. The architectural style of the mosque is one of a kind, the prototype of the mosque is the Azizi Mosque, North Sumatra, Indonesia, but the Zahir Mosque is larger than the Azizi Mosque.
The building of the mosque is large, the area on which the building stands is more than 11.5 sq.m. At each corner of the mosque there is a minaret, there are five of them - 4 small and one, which is inside, the largest. The mosque is decorated with five domes (4 small on the minarets and 1 large), which symbolize the five basic principles of Islam. The mosque can accommodate about 5,000 people. Behind the mosque there is a building where the Sharia court sits, and a kindergarten.
Every year a state competition for reading the Koran is held in the building of the mosque. This Quran Reader Festival attracts a huge number of tourists.
