UPSC 2015 CDS II GK Paper

Mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and, hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying. A mimbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam (prayer leader) stands to deliver sermons. The kibla is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays during Ṣalat. It is fixed as the direction of the Kaaba in the Hejazi city of Mecca. Khutbah serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition.