Cheraman Juma Masjid is touted to be the first mosque in India and one of the oldest in the world where Juma prayers (Friday prayer) took place. It is part of the Muziris Heritage Project, a dream project undertaken by the Kerala Tourism Department. It is mainly intended to preserve the culture and history of Muziris (present-day Kodungallur), which served as a major hub for international trade during 3000 BC.

A visit to this historical monument will take one back to the heyday of Muziris under the Cheraman Rule. And more importantly, the history of the Cheraman Masjid is very much connected to the last king of the Cheraman dynasty, Cheraman Perumal who was the ruler of Muziris. According to the Keralaolpathi (a groundbreaking work in Malayalam which deals with the origin of the state of Kerala) Cheraman Perumal, in one of his dreams saw a moon splitting into two. Unable to decipher the meaning of what has happened, he consulted a few astrologers for an explanation. Since they failed to ... More

Cheraman Juma Masjid is touted to be the first mosque in India and one of the oldest in the world where Juma prayers (Friday prayer) took place. It is part of the Muziris Heritage Project, a dream project undertaken by the Kerala Tourism Department. It is mainly intended to preserve the culture and history of Muziris (present-day Kodungallur), which served as a major hub for international trade during 3000 BC.

A visit to this historical monument will take one back to the heyday of Muziris under the Cheraman Rule. And more importantly, the history of the Cheraman Masjid is very much connected to the last king of the Cheraman dynasty, Cheraman Perumal who was the ruler of Muziris. According to the Keralaolpathi (a groundbreaking work in Malayalam which deals with the origin of the state of Kerala) Cheraman Perumal, in one of his dreams saw a moon splitting into two. Unable to decipher the meaning of what has happened, he consulted a few astrologers for an explanation. Since they failed to give a satisfying answer, the king further turned to a few traders from Arabia. According to them, the miracle was done by Prophet Muhammed himself.

After having learned of Muhammed, the king decided to travel to Arabia to meet this miracle man. He renounced his throne, divided his land among other local chieftains and set off his journey to Mecca. There he embraced Islam and came to be known as Thajudheen. After living in Arabia for a while, he travelled back to India with many other religious leaders including Malik Ibn Dinar. But unfortunately, he couldn’t make it and died on the way. However, he had already given introductory letters to the team to facilitate their travel further to Muziris. On their arrival, the reigning king of Muziris welcomed them with open arms. To their surprise, he extended his help to convert the already existing Arathali Temple into a mosque. Then the well-known Islamic shrine called the Cheraman Juma Masjid came into existence. The more fascinating fact about the mosque is that the world’s second- largest religion has started its journey in India from this small place of worship.