A Space For the Idol at Islamic Heritage Museum

KOCHI: As a mark of tribute to the memory of the legendary man who took the pride of the country to the world beyond, India’s first mosque, Cheraman Juma Masjid, will dedicate a portion of its Islamic Heritage Museum for APJ Abdul Kalam, who had paid a visit to the mosque on July 29, 2005.

“The Islamic Museum, which sheds light on the composite culture that existed in God’s Own Country during the medieval period and showcases the relics of rich past, will be equipped with digital collections of the visit of APJ to the legendary town and the mosque, along with other documents that covers the history of the place and mosque,” said Faisal E B, administrative officer of the Mosque.

It was hardly a decade ago the then President visited Cheraman Juma Masjid, considered to be the oldest mosque in the country, situated at the ancient port town of Kodungallur, Thrissur. The illustrious son of the country, who visited the 1400-year-old mosque on July 29, wrote on the guest book, “I pray in the ancient mosque for the peace and prosperity of the country.”

It was a strange coincidence that he bade adieu to worldly life when the mosque committee was renovating the ancient mosque, said Dr Mohammed Syed, president of the Mosque committee.  “We would set aside a space for the former president in the renovated mosque, which already carries a plaque of his visit.  Besides a museum being set up in the mosque will carry relics of the visit of the missile man,” he added.

The mosque committee is already in the process of collecting audio-video footages of Muslim culture, the artefacts associated with their daily lives and all other memorials pertaining to them.

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