Friday mosque · Urgut District

Mulla Shodi Bobo Mosque

Type

Friday mosque

District

Urgut District

Built

2021

Capacity

10,000 worshippers

Urgut District’s main Friday mosque in Mergancha mahalla, opened on 13 March 2021 as the Urgut Central Mosque and designed for 10,000 worshippers.

Mergancha mahalla, Urgut District

History

When Urgut’s old central mosque, the Chobin Friday Mosque in the town centre, could no longer hold the crowds at Friday and Eid prayers, the district decided to build a large new one. A site was set aside in Mergancha mahalla, and according to the regional Muslim board the mosque took more than five years to build, through hashar — voluntary community labour.

The mosque was formally opened on 13 March 2021 in the presence of the Mufti of Uzbekistan, the head of the Committee on Religious Affairs and the regional and district governors; after registration with the justice department, it held its first Friday prayers on 19 March. Early reports call it the Urgut Central Friday Mosque, while later official lists and news name the district’s main mosque in Mergancha as Mulla Shodi Bobo.

Architecture

The complex covers more than a hectare. The two-storey prayer hall measures 45 by 55 metres (about 2,500 m²) and is crowned by a 34-metre dome, with four minarets around it — two of 40 metres and two of 43. Quranic verses run around the inside of the dome, and the mihrab is decorated with Kufic and thuluth inscriptions.

Figures released at the opening put the capacity of the two-storey mosque at about 8,000; the Muslim board’s later reports give 10,000 worshippers for the mosque as a whole. The grounds include an ablution hall for 100 people, a two-storey administrative building and a garden with flowerbeds.

Official list: Listed by the Samarkand branch of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan (sammuslim.uz).

Visiting a mosque: cover shoulders and knees (women should wear a headscarf) and take your shoes off at the door; avoid prayer times and ask before taking photos.

Details come from official sources and were checked in October 2026. Details may change — please check before you visit. Something wrong? Let us know

Sources (15)