The Archetype and Shifting Morphology of Sri Lankan Mosque Architecture

Abstract

Sri Lanka is home to a number of historic mosques that date back over a thousand years and were built during various eras. In an attempt to fill the knowledge gap on such topic, particularly in regard to the built context of historic mosques in Sri Lanka, this paper illustrates the plan typology of mosques and compares them with the known Muslims architectural typologies. Is the design of the historical mosques in Sri Lanka related to a particular Islamic architectural style? Was the primary inquiry driving the study? The research's goal is to examine mosque plan arrangement typologies and determine how closely these typologies resemble well-known Muslims design elements. The approach includes providing examples of well-known Islamic architectural styles from around the globe and choosing historical mosques to graphically analyze and compare with Muslims architectural styles. A typological trend in Sri Lanka's historic mosques was identified through research. The discussion in this article emphasizes the similarity between the known Muslims architectural mosque typologies and the typology of historical mosques in Sri Lanka. As a consequence, the architectural floor plan typologies of Sri Lanka's historic mosques were identified. Numerous kinds of plans, including Ottoman, Umayyad, and Mughal were found to be effective. The results of the recent study showed that Sri Lanka's ancient mosques have different types of plans. This paper will discuss the history of the development of structures and the origins of their various components.