Thane's Mira Road Jama Masjid a jewel among mosques today

Thane, April 17 Amid the political cacophony of loudspeakers in the state, the Jama Masjid Al Shams on Mira Road here has quietly blossomed into a glittering jewel among all the mosques in Maharashtra, creating waves during Ramzan.

Since the start of the holy month of fasting, thousands throng the mosque run by the Hussain family's Waqf recognised trusts in the Muslim-dominated Nayanagar locality, and is inspired by the striking mosques in Madina, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim countries.

Catapulted among the most awe-inspiring mosques, the Jama Masjid Al Shams had humble beginnings in April 1979, in what was then a marshy area with salt pans, mangroves and tiny farms dotting a stark landscape, now thriving with over 1.25 lakh souls.

Ironically, bitter political rivals, the late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and the late Indian Union Muslim League President G. M. Banatwala, jointly laid the foundation stone for Nayanagar - a middle-class Muslim colony.

"The small mosque came up soon afterwards with the inspiration of my father, Syed Nazar Hussain. In 1995-1997, we expanded and refurbished it for the growing population. After 25 years, in 2020-2022 we have completely modernised it at a cost of Rs 5 crores," a proud Muzaffar Hussain, the Managing Trustee and Congress ex-MLC told .

Sprawling over an acre, in its new incarnation, the mosque is billed the state's biggest as 5,000 faithful can pray simultaneously. It boasts of some of the most modern, ‘green' initiatives, gadgets and operations seen at any mosque in the country, with awestruck Hindus, Sikhs and Christ flocking to view and admire it.

The entrance is via a grand old 20-feet-tall and 15-feet-wide Burma Teakwood door, which is now layered with glittering gold-leaves and opens into a 3,000 sq. feet courtyard covered with a Ferrari tensile shed that reflects heat to keep the interiors cool.

Straight up at the end of a flight of stairs is the striking entrance to the main mosque, nestling under a massive 80-feet high central dome with a 40-feet diameter, besides a 108-feet tall minaret, topped by a tiny cupola, fully gold-plated and bathed in specialised colour lighting to enhance its beauty at night.

The airconditioned main mosque, with a rich fawn-and-brown carpet, presents an ethereal experience, German yellow lights enhancing the pure gold leaves, panels or engravings adorning the walls and pillars, the 99 names of Allah and Prophet Mohammed, along with their meanings, inscribed in gold letters for the faithful.

A 100-unit solar power station, an imported ultra-modern sound and lighting system have been installed for the daily ‘azaan' and other announcements for the faithful, with the Quran verses and other religious scripts played softly - like piped music - at specified hours in the courtyard.

"I was mesmerised by the soothing, divine ‘azaan'