April 2016
Located off Sultan Qaboos highway is the magnificent Sultan Qaboos grand mosque. Coming from the airport heading into Muscat city, it’s on your right. You would not miss it. Right after checking-in to our hotel, we headed to this mosque. Non-Muslims are also welcome to visit the mosque every day, except Friday, from 8:30 until 11:00 am and would be asked to dress modestly in a way befitting a place of worship.
As we visited the mosque in the late evening passed the visiting hours for tourist, the main prayer hall was so quiet, serene, tranquil and peaceful. This would be just the place for you to revitalise your body spiritually and physically. After offering prayers in respect of entering the mosque, I walked around to admire the graceful architecture of the prayer hall from the carpet to the ceiling. Several huge chandeliers decorates the prayer hall.
The exterior of the mosque is surrounded by garden and trees. Corridors links one section of the mosque to the other. The mosque has one huge dome that covers the prayer hall and minarets at each corner of the compound with another main minaret that is 90 metres high. The carpet in the main prayer hall is said to be the 2nd largest hand-woven in the world. The mosque can accommodate 20,000 worshipers.

Possibly a newer section of planted shrubs facing the Sultan Qaboos highway. Not sure what building that’s across the highway. Seems newly built.