View allAll Photos Tagged SultanQaboosMosque
The Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian peninsula is some what of an enigma It shares the peninsula with Yemen and Saudi Arabia and currently should be in the middle of huge military conflict. However, Sultan Qaboos, the longest serving leader in the Middle East, has managed to keep his country a neutral entity in the region. Not an easy task, I would say.One reason is that the people of Oman practice the Ibadi School of Islam not Sunni or Shia. The Sultan also provides free education and medical care for the citizens.
It is a peaceful and welcoming country to explore. I just read comments by readers of the The Oman Times, the newspaper of the country. Solo female travellers wrote that they felt perfectly safe in the country. That's a very difficult thing to say of anywhere in the world. I can echo that feeling along with saying it was one of the most relaxing road trips I have experienced.
However, on the other end of the spectrum, are reports of torture of dissidents, laws forbidding criticism of the Sultan, and poor treatment of foreign workers. After all, Oman participated to a large degree in slave trading. They once ruled Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, now part of Tanzania.
Muscat, the capital city, is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. The harbor and the lantern-lined boulevards that lead to the harbor from this hillside are uncluttered, well planned and magnificent. This Mosque named after the Sultan in located on the highest hill in the city.
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The Sultan Qaboos Jama mosque in Nizwa. Join me on my Oman Photography Workshop in Oct 2020 - aperturetours.com/oman
Only 14 days left to join me and shoot the Sultan Qaboos Jama mosque in Nizwa Oman - more details at www.aperturetours.com/oman-photography-workshop
The sun sets on the Sultan Qaboos Jama mosque in Nizwa. Join me on my Oman Photography Workshop in Oct 2020 - aperturetours.com/oman
One of the most interesting mosques I have visited so far has been the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat, Oman. The long corridors circling the praying areas are a great place to stop and take everything in and for some reason, the layout of this mosque reminded me of the Mughal architecture I have seen in Agra, India, particularly at the Taj Mahal.
To view the blog entry go to: www.momentaryawe.com/blog/?p=793
This is the Bigest carpet in the world . An Iranian carpet in Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat ( Oman ) . This carpet is 4343 sq meter .
Gates and one of the minarets of Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat, Oman.
I was at one end of the mosque just in front of the main entrance. The minaret is at the other end.
The Sultan Qaboos mosque has one of the world's largest carpets inside - 40 by 70 meters IIRC - which was woven on site because it would have been way too large to be transported there. It also has one of world's largest chandeliers made from Svarovski crystal glass (from Austria), which has almost the size of a bus and weighs a few tons. The mosque is accessible to non-muslims, but only in a guided tour once a day (as of 2002).
Sultan Qaboos Mosque is more a "friday mosque" than an everyday mosque. It is very large, and so it is only rather populated on friday, which is the "holy day" of the muslims. Most Muscat muslims choose other mosques for their prayers at other days of the week. I have been told by people from Muscat they just feel something like a little left alone when there at any other day, because of the huge size.
Shot with a Nikon F801s on Agfa CT100 slide film, later scanned.
[Deutsch]
Die Tore und eines der Minarette der Sultan-Qabus-Moschee in Maskat, Oman.
Ich war auf der einen Seite der Moschee vor dem Haupteingang. Das Minarett ist genau auf der anderen Seite der Moschee.
In der Sultan-Qabus-Moschee findet sich einer der größten Teppiche der Welt - 40 mal 70 Meter, wenn ich mich recht erinnere - der gleich vor Ort gewebt wurde, weil er viel zu groß für einen Transport gewesen wäre. Ebenso findet man hier einen der weltgrößten Kronleuchter, hergestellt von Svarovski (Tirol, Österreich) aus Kristallglas. Der hat in etwa die Ausmaße eines Busses und wiegt schon einigeTonnen. Die Moschee ist auch für Nicht-Muslime zugänglich, allerdings nur im Rahmen einer Führung, die einmal täglich stattfindet (war zumindest 2002 so).
Die Sultan-Qabus-Moschee ist mehr eine Freitags-Moschee als eine Moschee für den Alltag. Sie ist sehr groß, und so ist sie nur am Freitag, dem heiligen Tag der Muslime, einigermaßen voll. Die meisten Muslime in Maskat ziehen es vor, an den anderen Wochentagen in andere Moscheen zum Beten zu gehen. Ich habe mir von Einheimischen aus Maskat sagen lassen, daß sie sich mit Ausnahme von Freitagen, wo es hier recht voll werden kann, an anderen Tagen ob der schieren Größe der Moschee schon fast ein wenig einsam im Gebäude fühlen.
Fotografiert mit einer Nikon F801s auf Agfa CT100 Diafilm, später gescannt.
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main Mosque in the Sultanate of Oman.
The interior prayer carpet is the second largest single piece carpet in the world.
Cheers.
Santosh GP
MEECC
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This became a bit of a running joke with our guide - spotting Sultan Qaboos mosques. We actually saw seven out of the fifteen.
The construction of the mosque was funded by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos and it was inaugurated in September 2015. The new mosque is expected to accommodate 10,500 worshippers. It boasts four minarets, gardens and other facilities.
Looking back over the last couple of posts it seems I am in a bit of “Oman” phase, so I will carry on with one more image from this amazing country.
One of the first things you learn when your interest in photography goes from casual to obsessive is the power of the leading lines. These leading lines are imaginary lines in your photograph that lead your eye towards the main subject of your photo. Sometimes they can be extremely subtle, while other times they are really obvious as is the case with this image.
The photograph was taken last year in Muscat during the Faces and Places workshop with David Nightingale and Bobbi Lane while exploring the beautiful Sultan Qaboos Mosque. I visited the mosque a couple of times before and I always liked these corridors as they always seem to be pointing towards some sort of imaginary subject. So this time, I wanted to wait for a while at the beginning of one of the corridors and hope to get lucky with a person walking by at the other end. As it happened, it was a worker dressed in bright blue overalls, which I think adds some nice contrast to the scene. As always I would love to hear what you think.
To view the original shot (straight from the camera) visit the blog entry here: www.momentaryawe.com/blog/?p=3506
Ever since I moved to the Middle East almost 11(!!!) years ago I found the traditional Arabic patterns really interesting. There’s always really nice shapes and they make great photo subjects. A few months ago during the Faces and Places workshop with David Nightingale and Bobbi Lane we spent the first morning photographing the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat, Oman. It’s a beautiful place, but at the time we were there it was very busy so it was difficult to come up with interesting shots that could give you a feel for the place without the hordes of tourists.
As a result I spent most of the morning trying to focus on small details, like the door handle below or these patterns from a previous post. I struggled for a while to get a shot of this handle that I was happy with , but in the end very shallow depth of field worked for me.
To view the blog entry go to: www.momentaryawe.com/blog/?p=3032