Crystal Mosque

Crystal Mosque, written as Kristal in phonetic Malay, is another mosque that first caught our attention as we were driving into the city from the airport. Its silver domes were shining against the waters surrounding it. A colourful band of light floated below the dome. This less than 5-year-old mosque is primarily built of smoke coloured glass and steel. I visited it twice, once at night when the glass was shining as it reflected the dim moonlight, and again during the day when we went inside and saw the nuances in its design. During the daytime, the smoke coloured glass looks as if it’s coated with gold. Inside the mosque, huge crystal chandeliers hang just below the domes and I assume this is where the name of the mosque comes from and not from the glass and steel structure. The Mihrab is in yellow on white has some intriguing calligraphy all around it. In fact you can see calligraphy around the doors and glass at the bottom of the mosque structure. Corridor leading to the mosque and the corridor behind it has nice latticework in white, something that we commonly associate with Islamic architecture. For me it was one of the rare modern looking mosques that I have seen and it was quite a refreshing feeling to have visited one. Most mosques tend to be old in their look and feel even if they are not that old.