Palaiya Jumma Palli, Kilakarai

The Palaiya Jumma Palli, the Old Jumma Mosque, also called the Meen Kadai Palli, stands in the old port town of Kilakarai in Ramanathapuram district. Tradition holds that Yemeni merchants settled on the Pandya coast built it between 628 and 630 CE after embracing Islam, which would place it, with the Cheraman Juma Masjid in Kerala and the Barwada mosque in Gujarat, among the first mosques in India. It was rebuilt in 1036.

The building is a fine example of Tamil Islamic architecture. The building resembles a temple in form, but its pillars and walls carry no images. The mihrab in the inner wall faces precisely towards the Kaaba, which is taken as evidence of the navigation skills of the early builders. The Tamil word pallivasal, used for the mosque, means a place of worship with many doors.