--- title: Women Enter 1000-Year-Old India Mosque for First Time description: The mosque in Kerala decided to let Muslim women in to see the architecture for two days. canonical: https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-25T16:40:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:00:35.678Z article:section: World og:title: Women Allowed to Enter Indian Mosque for First Time in 1,000 Years og:description: The women were permitted to visit the mosque, but not to pray there og:url: https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83fccefa0bd6f0f0/6988908e8e06016ace465957/kerala-mosque-women-1000-years.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: kerala mosque women 1000 years og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Women Allowed to Enter Indian Mosque for First Time in 1,000 Years twitter:description: The women were permitted to visit the mosque, but not to pray there twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83fccefa0bd6f0f0/6988908e8e06016ace465957/kerala-mosque-women-1000-years.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Women Allowed to Enter Indian Mosque for First Time in 1,000 Years  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 25, 2016 4:40 PM CUT  Thazhathangady Juma Masjid, in the state of Kerala, India. Thazhathangady Juma Masjid, in the state of Kerala, India.IndiaPictures—UIG via Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 25, 2016 4:40 PM CUT A 1,000-year-old mosque in Kerala, India [opened](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1000-year-old-Kerala-mosque-allows-women-to-enter-its-portal/articleshow/51981147.cms "undefined") to Muslim women for the first time on Sunday. The Thazhathangady Juma mosque is known for its architecture and wooden carvings, the _Times of India_ reports, but only men can worship there and women have never been allowed to look inside. The president of the mosque said a committee decided to open the mosque to women for visitation, but not prayer, on Sunday and for a second time on May 8\. Men will not be allowed in the mosque while women are present. “This is a 1000-year-old mosque. Our women had not seen it so far and had a great desire to visit the holy place. So the mosque committee decided to allow women to visit it,” [said](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1000-year-old-Kerala-mosque-allows-women-to-enter-its-portal/articleshow/51981147.cms "undefined") the mosque committee’s president. Thousands of women traveled to the city of Kottayam to enter the mosque wearing traditional clothing on Sunday. \[[_Times of India_](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1000-year-old-Kerala-mosque-allows-women-to-enter-its-portal/articleshow/51981147.cms "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/"},"headline":"Women Allowed to Enter Indian Mosque for First Time in 1,000 Years","datePublished":"2016-04-25T16:40:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:00:35.678Z","description":"The women were permitted to visit the mosque, but not to pray there","url":"https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/","keywords":["India"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83fccefa0bd6f0f0/6988908e8e06016ace465957/kerala-mosque-women-1000-years.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83fccefa0bd6f0f0/6988908e8e06016ace465957/kerala-mosque-women-1000-years.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kerala mosque women 1000 years","caption":"kerala mosque women 1000 years","creditText":"IndiaPictures—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4306618/mosque-india-women/","name":"Women Allowed to Enter Indian Mosque for First Time in 1,000 Years"}}]}] ```