Wulugu mosque
The Zayaa building or ‘Wulugu mosque’ as it is popularly called, is located at Wulugu, about 14 kilometres from Walewale in the West Mamprusi District in the North East Region.
The 20th Century traditional storey architecture built from latterite has an intriguing mystical and spiritual backstory.
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Divine architecture
The man behind the historic building, Sheikh Abdul-Karim, claims the architecture was revealed to him in a dream when he was residing at Bawku in the Upper East Region.
To accomplish the dream, he migrated to Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital, in an unsuccessful search of a place to put up the building.
He continued his journey, moving through Pwalugu and then to Wulugu where he finally settled.
At Wulugu, he had the same dream but this time, it was revealed clearly where to put up the building and how it should look like.
The next morning, he found a well at the site where he had been directed to in the dream for the building.
That, to Sheikh Abdul-Karim, simply implied that God had provided him with water to use for the building, since that was dear at the time.
The story has it that, as the project began, he noticed that each morning another level was added miraculously to what had been built the previous day. This continued day after day until Sheikh Abdul-Karim completed the building.
Holy ground
Sheikh Abdul-Karim was said to have had another dream in which he was told the site must be kept as a holy ground.
“This is why visitors are made to take off their shoes before entering the building,” a guide at the facility told the Daily Graphic.
Although it was not meant as a mosque, the building was constructed for worship purposes, with a maze of tiny rooms dedicated to different types of prayer, as well as for sleeping and dining.
The Zayaa building has 45 rooms with two floors.
The well that provided water for the project remains at the centre of the building from which persons on any floor can draw water.
