Mosques in India

India is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations, with more than 200 million Muslims across every state and union territory. Mosques of every scale, from imperial Mughal jama masjids to small neighbourhood prayer halls, mark the country's cities and towns. This page brings together the Indian cities covered by the directory and offers the historical context and practical guidance to find your way.

A thousand-year presence

Islam reached the Indian subcontinent along multiple routes. Arab traders settled on the Malabar coast of Kerala as early as the seventh century, and the Cheraman Juma Masjid at Kodungallur is traditionally described as the oldest mosque in India. From the tenth century onward, waves of arrivals through the northwestern passes brought new dynasties: the Delhi Sultanate from 1206, the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmednagar, and finally the Mughal Empire that shaped much of the subcontinent from 1526 to the mid nineteenth century.

Each of these dynasties left an architectural and spiritual legacy that still frames Indian Muslim life today. The Sufi orders, especially the Chishtiyya of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and the Suhrawardiyya in Multan and Delhi, drew people from every community and remain living centres of pilgrimage.

The main cities and regions

The distribution of mosques follows a long history. Delhi and Old Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Srinagar and Aurangabad all host dense concentrations of mosques and long-standing Muslim neighbourhoods. Kerala, on the southwest coast, carries a distinct tradition tied to the early Arab trade. Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Telangana and Karnataka are the states with the largest Muslim populations in absolute numbers.

In each major city, one or several Friday mosques serve as landmarks. The Jama Masjid of Delhi, built by Shah Jahan in 1656, remains the largest mosque in India. The Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, the Taj-ul-Masajid in Bhopal, the Jama Masjid of Ahmedabad, the Nagina Masjid in Agra and the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar are among the most visited sites in the country.

Currents and communities

The Indian Muslim community is plural. The Sunni majority is divided mainly between the Barelvi and Deobandi movements, while the Shia community, well established in Lucknow, Hyderabad and parts of Kashmir, includes both Ithna Ashari and Ismaili traditions. The Dawoodi Bohra and Khoja communities, concentrated in Gujarat and Maharashtra, maintain their own mosques and institutions. Sufi shrines cut across denominational lines and welcome visitors from every background.

Most mosques are managed independently by their local committee or waqf board. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board and the state waqf boards oversee religious endowments, while organisations such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and the Tablighi Jamaat run their own networks of mosques, madrasas and social services.

Architecture

Indo-Islamic architecture is one of the great traditions of world building. The Delhi Sultanate introduced the pointed arch, the true dome and geometric ornament, seen in the Qutb Minar complex and the Alai Darwaza. The Mughals synthesised Persian, Central Asian and Indian elements into a distinctive style of red sandstone and white marble, culminating in the Jama Masjid of Delhi and the Badshahi ensemble of Fatehpur Sikri. The Deccan sultanates developed their own idiom with the Charminar in Hyderabad and the bulbous domes of Bijapur. Kerala's wooden mosques with tiered pyramidal roofs echo the Nusantara style across the Indian Ocean.

Practical guidance

Mosques in India open for the five daily prayers and many stay accessible between prayers during the day. The Friday noon prayer draws the largest crowds of the week, and Ramadan brings nightly tarawih, communal iftar and the last-ten-nights iktikaf. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha see enormous open-air prayers in most cities, often at a dedicated Eidgah ground.

Visitors are generally welcome outside prayer time, subject to the usual dress code: shoulders and legs covered, hair covered for women, shoes removed before entering the prayer hall, and quiet inside. Non-Muslims are welcome at Sufi shrines, which are often busiest on Thursday evenings. Some monuments such as the Jama Masjid of Delhi charge a small camera fee.

How to use this directory

The city pages linked below list the mosques of each city, and each mosque has its own detailed entry: location, contacts, facilities, history, practical advice and prayer times computed for the specific coordinates. Data comes from OpenStreetMap and is checked before publication. Not every Indian mosque is listed yet, and the directory grows with each round of verification and additions.