Jama Masjid

Srinagar

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Looking like the movie set for an imagined Central Asian castle, this mighty 1672 mosque (built on an earlier 1394 construction) forms a quadrangle around a large garden courtyard with fountain and monumental spired gatehouses marking the four cardinal directions. There’s room for thousands of devotees among the 378 roof-support columns, each fashioned from the trunk of a single deodar tree.

The Jama Masjid is often the focus of demonstrations, particularly after Friday prayers, so check the situation before heading here on a Friday.

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