Saukar Masjid, Alappuzha

Saukar Masjid stands in Alappuzha municipality, about 1.7 km from the bus stand. It was completed in 1850 on land granted by Raja Kesava Das, the Diwan of Travancore remembered as the creator of modern Alappuzha, to the Halai Memon community from Porbandar in Gujarat. The Diwan turned Alappuzha into a major Travancore port, building roads, canals and warehouses for the spice trade, and he invited Gujarati Muslim families from Bombay to settle, setting aside sites for their places of worship.

The mosque follows the Ottoman and Eastern European styles current when it was built. Because of its age and architecture, it was restored in 2022 under the Alappuzha Heritage Project, and the Kerala Government made it a protected place of worship.