Qibla · Xinjiang
Qibla direction in Kucha
To face the Kaaba in Kucha, turn to 254.2° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (15.8° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,601 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Kucha should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 254.2°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 254°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Kucha
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 15.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 254.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 16° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Kucha to Mecca points to 240.9° (south-west), 13.4° away from the correct 254.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 32 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 41.7150° N, 82.9325° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Kucha to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,601 km from Kucha as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,409 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 55 min, although most pilgrims from Kucha connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Kucha run 3 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kucha rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kucha
On 232 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kucha while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 17:40 local time.
On 109 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 05:57.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 17:40 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 17:14 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 16:41 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 16:15 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 15:49 | 05:57 |
| 15 May 2027 | 15:30 | 06:15 |
| 1 June 2027 | 15:15 | 06:33 |
| 15 June 2027 | 15:11 | 06:42 |
| 1 July 2027 | 15:16 | 06:45 |
| 15 July 2027 | 15:26 | 06:39 |
| 1 August 2027 | 15:44 | 06:22 |
| 15 August 2027 | 16:01 | 06:01 |
| 1 September 2027 | 16:22 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 16:39 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 16:59 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 17:18 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Kucha: at 15:18 and 15:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Kucha compared with other cities
Compared with Beijing, 2,806 km away, the Qibla in Kucha is turned 24.6° further anticlockwise (254.2° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 2,784 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Aral (191 km), prays towards 254.1°, a difference of 0.2°.
Across the 612 cities in China on this site, the Qibla ranges from 249.0° in Tacheng to 286.5° in Suifenhe, a spread of 37.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for China.
Qibla in cities near Kucha
Qibla in Kucha: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Kucha?
It is 254.2° from true north, which is west: 15.8° south of west.
How far is Kucha from Mecca?
4,601 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,409 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Kucha?
On 232 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Kucha not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 240.9°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Kucha at 254.2°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 254.2° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.