Situated in the heart of the Central Business District (CBD) is Singapore's only underground mosque, Masjid Moulana Mohamed Ali.

It is located by the Singapore River in the basement of the second tallest building in Singapore -- UOB Plaza One.

Amidst the towering buildings in the CBD, it is easy to miss the mosque's inconspicuous street-level entrance nestled between UOB Plaza One and the McDonald's at Boat Quay.

Since 1994, Masjid Moulana has served the needs of Muslim office workers in the Shenton area, especially for Friday prayers.

However, the mosque was originally located elsewhere, and its history spans from pre-independent Singapore.

Here's how it ended up in the basement of UOB Plaza One.

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History of the mosque

The mosque was originally located at street-level at nearby 16 and 18 Market Street, occupying the space of a pair of double-storey shophouses.

The shophouses were purchased in 1953 and 1955 by three prominent Muslim men as they saw the need to have a place of worship in the CBD.

This was what Market Street looked like in the 1950s:

Reasons for the shift to its present location

As the CBD expanded rapidly in the late 1970s and 1980s, many properties were being acquired for development.

At that time, UOB planned to develop the area around Market Street. They had already bought up several properties around the mosque, but were unable to proceed because the mosque was in the middle of their plans.

In 1982, after negotiations, the Market Street shophouses were exchanged for the mosque's current location, which was in the basement of UOB Plaza.

The underground mosque was eventually opened in 1995. At that time, the mosque had a capacity for 350 people.

This is what it looked like then:

It has been a while... Awaiting #Maghrib #mosque in the city

A post shared by chegu thamrin (@chegu) on Sep 8, 2014 at 4:35am PDT

In October 2013, the mosque closed for renovation works before reopening in 2015 with a more spacious prayer hall fully equipped with air-conditioning.

According to MUIS, the mosque's current capacity stands at 800 congregants. Activities in the mosque include daily and Friday prayers, as well as religious lectures on an ad-hoc basis.

This is what it looks like today:

Quiet the mind hour #tarawih

A post shared by Suhaimi Rahman (@suhaimi) on May 31, 2017 at 6:43am PDT

isyak #mosque #masjid #islam #singapore

A post shared by Aidah Omar (@aidahomar) on Nov 9, 2016 at 4:26am PST

Top photo adapted from Google Maps.