Golden domes
Twenty-nine.
Balou46 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Uhooep — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Uhooep — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia — CC BY 2.0
Brunei's largest mosque, built between 1992 and 1994 to mark the twenty-fifth year of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's reign and known locally as the Kiarong Mosque after the district it stands in, an architectural masterpiece with golden domes and four minarets. Twenty-nine golden domes crown the mosque, a number marking Hassanal Bolkiah as the twenty-ninth Sultan of Brunei, and four tall minarets, broad gardens and fountains surround the building, which glitters at night when its domes are lit. Inside is a spacious prayer hall of marble, carpets, chandeliers and colourful Islamic ornament, with a women's section; the mosque holds thousands of worshippers and hosts the capital's major religious occasions. The outer grounds are open daily outside prayer times, and non-Muslims can usually visit inside at set times except on Thursdays and Fridays, in modest dress with robes lent at the entrance. Entry is free, and after sunset is the best time for photographs.
Twenty-nine.
Soaring.
Glittering domes.
Kiarong, near Gadong, Bandar Seri Begawan
Because Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is the twenty-ninth Sultan of Brunei.
