Jama Masjid Srinagar

Looking like the movie set for an imagined Central Asian castle, this mighty 1672 mosque (built on an earlier 1394 construction) forms a quadrangle around a large garden courtyard with fountain and monumental spired gatehouses marking the four cardinal directions. There’s room for thousands of devotees among the 378 roof-support columns, each fashioned from the trunk of a single deodar tree. The Jama Masjid is often the focus of demonstrations, particularly after Friday prayers, so check the situation before heading here on a Friday.