On the second day of his Egypt tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo on Sunday.
PM Modi also interacted with community leaders and praised the strong people-to-people ties between India and Egypt.
It may be mentioned that Modi’s visit to the Al-Hakim Mosque holds significance for India the mosque was restored with the help of India's Dawoodi Bohra community, the Egyptian government's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said. The latest restoration was completed about three months ago.
The Al-Hakim Mosque is a historic and prominent mosque in Cairo named after Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985-1021), the 16th Fatimid caliph. The mosque was originally built by Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah's father, Caliph Al-'Aziz Billah, towards the end of the 10th century, in the year 990, and was later completed by Al-Hakim in the year 1013.
The mosque is also known as Al-Anwar, meaning "the Illuminated", similar in style to the name of the earlier Al-Azhar Mosque founded by the Fatimids. It is the second-largest mosque in the city of Cairo, and the fourth oldest.
The mosque has two distinctive minarets on its north and west corners, which were modified by Al-Hakim himself in 1010 by adding a square salient around them. They are the oldest surviving minarets in the city. The mosque also has the distinction of being the oldest mosque in the world to have two minarets erected together at the time of its initial construction.
The mosque has eleven gates, of which the most important is the central one on the main facade, made of stone. The gate has a prominent portico with carved niches and squares on its tip, similar to the Mahdiyah Mosque in Tunisia.
The mosque also has pointed arches supported by rectangular columns in the courtyard and the prayer hall, reminiscent of the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo.
The mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is an important cultural site for the Dawoodi Bohra community in Cairo. The latest renovation project was the second such initiative undertaken by the Dawoodi Bohra community after the first renovation and restoration project that was completed nearly forty years ago.
PM Modi landed in Egypt’s capital Cairo as part of his first bilateral visit to the nation on Saturday. In a special honour, he was received by Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouly and was also accorded the guard of honour at the airport.
