This june (2024), I got an opportunity to visit Kerala for a week. It was on my bucket list for quite some time. Besides typical tourist attractions like tea gardens of Munnar, backwaters of Alleppey, and Chinese fishing nets in cochin, I always wanted to visit Kodangallur. Kodangallur is situated on the banks of river periyar in the Thrissur district and is famous for supposedly the first mosque of the Indian subcontinent, Cheraman Juma Masjid. It is said the mosque was built by Malik bin Dinar in 629 A.D.
It was the last day of our Kerala tour, and although we were totally exhausted from our long journey from Munnar to Cochin, we decided to give it a go. The journey from Munnar to Cochin took much longer than anticipated due to rainfall. However, when we reached our hotel in Cochin, we decided that everyone was too tired for another journey. However after after some rest and lunch we decided to go. The distance from our hotel to the mosque was only 30 kilometres but it took us almost two hours to traverse the distance due to rain and the fact that we had to cross the whole city of Cochin from one end to the other. The route from Cochin to Kodangallur was very scenic, passing through rice fields and beautiful villages with lush greenery. Monsoon rains further added to the magic. When we reached the mosque, it was the time between asr and maghrib prayers. We were able to see the mosque at leisure. There were few other families, mostly locals, visiting the mosque. There were Hindu as well as Christian families who had apparently brought their younger ones to be blessed at the adjoining grave. The mosque is truly a symbol of syncretic tradition of Kerala. We were able to pray maghrib at the mosque. Although we all wanted to spend more time, but as our flight was early next morning, we decided not to take any risk during the monsoon and returned back to our hotel before it was too late.
Today, Kodangallur is just one of the typical small towns with around 35000 population as per the census of 2011. However, it was not always like this. There was a time when it was one of the important sea ports besides being the craddle of civilization in Kerala.. It was known as musris in olden days. Dating back to 400 B.C. it was an important centre of trade with east as well as west. Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) called it “Primum Emorium Indiae” – the most important Indian port.
Legend has it that Cheraman Perumal Rama Verma Kulashekhara became interested in Islam after witnessing the splitting of the moon and decided to make pilgrimage there. He divided his kingdom and left for Mecca. He lived in Mecca for a few years where he visited the Prophet and embraced Islam in his presence. He adopted a new name, Thajuddin. He performed Hajj.
On his return journey to India, he was accompanied by other Muslims from Mecca to propagate Islam. An important member of the group was Malik bin Dinar. Along the way on the return journey, Thajuddin fell sick and died in Oman. He was buried in Salalah under the local name Abdur Rahman al Samiri. Before his death, he wrote a letter to the King in Kodangallur. Malik bin Dinar landed in Kodangallur with the letter. He got permission from the King and established the supposedly first mosque in the Indian subcontinent.
Shashi Tharoor has mentioned in an interview that Perumal brought Kerala coconut to Salalah, which grows until today. Tharoor during his visit to Muscat said “I would love to know what the ancient city of Salalah is like, and that marvellous story of the Kerala king, Cheraman Perumal, who visited the city during his lifetime and planted coconut trees in the coastline, which are not native to this peninsula” (Times of Oman, 2022)
It is a fact that Salalah is probably the only place in the entire Middle East with an abundance of coconut trees. Salalah coconut is available throughout the whole of Oman. It is full of sweet water.
Perumals grave is present in Salalah. However, this popular account is not fully accepted by historians who claim that evidence does not point to the authenticity of the story. Many claim that Perumal went to Mecca much later after the death of the Prophet. It is also claimed that Malik bin Dinar was not a companion of the Prophet but among the taabi’een ( a person who has not seen the Prophet but has seen his companions). This version looks more corect.
What is true is that the Cheraman Juma Masjid is present in Kodangallur and is a working mosque. There is a Malik bin Dinar Mosque at Thalangara in Kasargod District as well. The Mosque contains the grave of Malik bin Dinar.
At present many non-Muslims hold “Vidhyarambham” or commencement of education ceremony at the Cheraman Perumal mosque (Times of India, 2015). Vidhyarambham is similar to the Bismillah ceremony in many Muslim families when friends and family are invited over food, and a Maulvi initiates the child to education by guiding him/her to read some portion of the Quran. Vidhyarambham ceremony is held in Kerala every year on the occasion of Vijaya Dashaami day during the Navratri festival. Small children are guided by an elder to trace their first letters on a tray filled with rice or sand marking the beginning of their formal educational journey. Often, a golden ring is also used to write divine words on a child’s tongue with a belief that this will bless the child with wisdom and learning (Mathrabhumi, 2024).
The mosque has an ancient oil lamp, which always burns and is believed to be more than a thousand years old. People of all religions bring oil for the lamp as an offering. Like most mosques in Kerala, this mosque allows entry for Non-Muslims.
References:
Haseena, V. A. (2015) Historical Aspects of the Legend of Cheraman Perumal of Kodungallur in Kerala. Historical Research Letter, Vol. 17, pp. 47-51
Mathrabhumi (2024, October 13). Children enter world of letters on Vidyarambham; Temples witness huge rush in Kerala. Available at: https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/vidyarambham-2024-pooja-kerala-1.9980973. Accessed on 20 October 2024.
Times of India (2015, July 20) Mosque in Kerala dates back to the prophet’s time. Available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48138989.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst. Accessed on 18 October 2024.
Times of Oman (2022). Bowled over by Oman’s beauty, India’s Shashi Tharoor hopes to visit Salal. March 5.