Reshaping and promoting the Muslim identity through the transformation of architectural vocabularies?The case of Keralan mosques

Abstract

Some of the Keralan mosques are believed to be among the oldest mosques in South Asia. Their
construction appear to be connected to the first communities of merchants settled in the region because of
trade, who had converted to Islam and put down roots over the course of the following centuries. At the
same time, these structures differ considerably from those found in other areas of South Asia and generally
display unique formal elements. They seem to be the result of a remarkable combination of artistic
vocabularies apparently borrowed from other Muslim regions and fused with elements drawn from local
and South East Asian vernacular and temple architecture. The Indian Ocean trade network that brought
Islam to these shores also contributed to defining the identity of the first Islamic communities, which seems
to be reflected in architectural choices.
Nevertheless, the mosques’ originality and historical value is today jeopardised by increasing demolition
and reconstruction work. The change in artistic vocabulary that is remodelling architectural complexes and
structures in the region, is probably attributable to an anxiety to link the origins and identity of the
communities of Malabar to the heart of the Islamic lands. Modern communities, seem to respond to the
need to redefine and consolidate the construction of their own religious identity, in some way trying to
contrast the dimension of a peripheral region and a peripheral Islam. The paper aims to address the
tensions within the communities themselves and the local mosque committees, but also to examine the
intrinsic contradictions in the perception and promotion of the Islamic architectural heritage of the region
by analyzing the transformation of architectural vocabularies and its efficacy in narrating the communities’
identity.