Jama Masjid, Bhilai

The Jama Masjid in Bhilai's Sector 6 was built between 1964 and 1967 on land given by the Bhilai Steel Plant, after Muslim executives at the plant formed a trust to raise it. Before then, local Muslims prayed in their own neighbourhoods and met together only on Eid. The first Friday prayer was held on 31 March 1967, and the mosque holds about 3,000 worshippers, making it one of the largest in the state.

Its design, by the Hyderabad architect Khairuddin Ahmad Siddiqui, is unusual: seen in elevation, the building forms the Arabic words Ya Allah. The 80-foot minaret makes the letter ya, while the first-floor walls and the slab above, shaped like a tashdeed mark, form Allah. A marble dome crowns the structure, and marble tiles clad the minaret. Beside the mosque is a large Eidgah ground used for festival prayers.