KATHIRKAMAM MOSQUE (Kataragama)

KATHIRKAMAM MOSQUE is amply testified by the thousands of Muslim pilgrims who go there annually even from distant places far beyond the shores of blessed Serendib. A simple yet powerful Mosque & Shrine there are intimately associated in quranic and pre-quranic lore with Hazarat Khizr (alai), ‘The Green Man’, identified with the mysterious servant of Allah and holy teacher of prophet Musa (Moses) spoken of in the Holy Quran (Sura Khalf ‘The Cave’), is believed to be the discoverer of the Ma’ul Hayat or Water of Life

The heart of the ‘Khizr region’ of Serendib, therefore is none other than Kathirkamam or Khizr-gama as the place is also known among Sri Lankan Muslims, many of whom, remarkably, claim to have seen the ancient living prophet Hayat Nabi (Arabic: ‘living prophet’) or Khizr himself. To this day, the reputed site of the Ma’ul Hayat in Kathirkamam is occupied by an old Islamic house of prayer also known as Khizr Maqaam or ‘the (spiritual) station of al-Khizr.’