The oldest surviving place of Muslim worship in the city
- 93 Sule Pagoda Road
- Open daily 8am – 5pm
Triangle of worship
Only in Yangon you’ll find a mosque and a church right next to a pagoda. The Bengali Sunni Jamai Mosque was built by the large and prominent Indian Muslim community in the colonial days. Indians immigrated to Burma from the start of British rule. In those days they were the backbone of Burmese colonial society as soldiers, civil servants, merchants and moneylenders. On the eve of WWII half of Yangon’s population was Indian!
There are more mosques in this part of town, but the Bengali mosque is one of Yangon’s largest, oldest and most popular.
Popular mosque
There are more mosques in this part of town, but the Bengali mosque is one of Yangon’s largest, oldest and most popular. Come here for Friday prayer and you find it swarming with local Muslims. Legend has it that it was built by East Bengal, today’s Bangladesh as far back as 1862. What first was a modest wooden structure, was refurbished many times over the years. Today’s mosque features a colourful tiled mosaic façade and two proud minarets.