The golden domes of Masjid Sultan crown Kampong Glam, and around the base of each runs a band of glass bottle ends given by poorer worshippers.
A single-storey brick mosque was completed here in 1826, on land set aside under Sultan Hussein's 1824 agreement with the East India Company. Its replacement, designed by the Irish architect Denis Santry of Swan & Maclaren, was formally opened in 1929 while only two-thirds built, and finished in 1932. A band of glass bottle ends, donated by poorer worshippers, rings the base of each golden dome. It became a National Monument on 8 March 1975.
The prayer hall holds 5,000, and visitors may enter it only with a mosque official. The visitors' entrance is Gate 5, facing Bussorah Street, once the heart of Kampong Kaji, the Pilgrim Village, where hajj pilgrims lodged while they waited for ships. Men need sleeved tops and long trousers; women need long sleeves and ankle-length skirts or trousers. Flash-free photography is allowed; video needs approval.
