Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque Visit

This is a must visit when in Oman.  It was a highlight of my first couple of weeks here.   This massive building is worth having to wear long sleeves and covering my head in the high humidity and hot weather.  I recommend just buying a 10 rial abaya at the Ramez market because it is much easier to throw this on over your clothes so one can be sure they are respectfully dressed.  When I went, I had pretty much just arrived in Muscat and did not own an abaya or really know where to even get one.  I wore a pretty dress from Kashmir that I bought in the souk during our stay at the hotel with the school program.  It was long and covered my legs as it dragged on the floor and covered a lot of my arms so that you could see my arms from below my elbows to my hands.  I thought it was appropriate to wear to the mosque however, when I arrived, one of the program coordinators (an Omani woman) asked me if I had pins to make the dress close more on the bottom.  The dress had slits on both sides up to the bottom of my knees and this was not appropriate.  We found pins and the issue was addressed and fixed.  I learned my lesson!  So I advise any woman to simply grab a pretty 2 Rial Kashmiri scarf from the famous Muttrah souk or Seeb souk and a 10 Rial abaya at Ramez Center.

The Grand Mosque of the Sultanate of Oman is a pretty impressive place to visit.  I see it everytime I am on the freeway between my school in the residential coastal town of Al Seeb and the more touristy areas of Muttrah and AlQurum.  It is especially breathtaking when traveling on the freeway at nighttime.  To catch a glimpse of the aesthetically lit-up architectural masterpiece is a feast to one’s unsuspecting eyes.  The handwoven Persian rug in the main hall is 70m x 60m.  Over a period of four years, over six hundred women conceived this carpet. While this mosque is not the largest in the world, the carpet is the largest in the world.  

We visited this mosque about a month ago.  I just want to go back and enjoy the serene environment of the well-kept grounds and the peaceful quietness. Thanks to the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said for funding this gorgeous building and for the architects and builders.  My favorite would have to be all the designs and the spacious feeling of the mosque.  Someone told me that many parts were built and then taken down and rebuilt if things were not perfect.  The Sultan made sure it was perfect.