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This was quite an interesting mosque to visit.

First time I have to pay to enter a place of worship (all religions included). I usually pay for Museum.

The Hall of Prayer is built on a high platform and it contains three parts: the Inner hall, the Outer hall, and the Hall Entrance, all which sit on a dais over one meter high over ground. The roof of the Outer Hall is supported by 140 light blue wooden pillars. These seven-meter high pillars were laid out on a grid pattern, artistically spaced. On the roof and on the pillars are exquisite carvings and beautiful pictures. The brick gate tower, which faces Id Kah Square, is full of elaborate flower-pattern carvings, mainly in green.

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2U8amhg

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While waiting for the prayer time to end (but no prayers) we went to have tea at a traditional tea house. Just watching those old men going about with their social life was a treat.

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2P13Fwu

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The Id Kah Mosque.

It’s is the largest mosque in China. Every Friday, it houses nearly 10,000 worshippers and may accommodate up to 20,000. {“Potential houses”}

The mosque was built by Saqsiz Mirza in ca. 1442 (although it incorporated older structures dating back to 996) and covers 16,800 square meters.

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2uRiCrY

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A few more pictures of our day in Kashgar.

The Afāq Khoja/Aba Khoja/Abakh Khoja Mausoleum/Tomb

The mausoleum is perhaps the finest example of Islamic architecture in Xinjiang. A large dome of 56 ft (17 m) is at the center surrounded by four corner minarets with stripes and arabesque floral patterns. Each of the windows of the minarets are in a different geometric pattern while the tops have turrets with an inverted lotus dome and scalloped edges. The entrance to the mausoleum is a majestic facade and a tiled iwan-niche style typical of Central Asian mosques.

The mazar (mausoleum) was initially built in ca. 1640 as the tomb of Muhammad Yūsuf, a Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi master who had come to the Altishahr region (present-day southern Xinjiang) in the early 17th century, and possibly was also active in spreading Sufism in China proper. Later, Muhammad Yūsuf’s more famous son and successor, Afāq Khoja, was buried there as well. All told, the beautiful tiled mausoleum contains the tombs of five generations of the Afāqi family, providing resting places for 72 of its members.

In the northern part of the tomb is the lecture hall which is said to be used as classroom to telling the doctrine of Muslims. [Wikipedia]

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2IjzKhM