Qibla direction in Saransk

How to face the Qibla in Saransk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 9.2° towards west: the result is the bearing of 189.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 9° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Saransk, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Saransk to Mecca points to 187.1° (south), 2.0° away from the correct 189.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The value of 189.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 54.1849° N, 45.1717° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Saransk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,671 km from Saransk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,337 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 49 min, although most pilgrims from Saransk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Saransk run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Saransk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Saransk

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Saransk while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 12:42 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Saransk during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Saransk: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Saransk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 512 km away, the Qibla in Saransk is turned 12.8° further clockwise (189.2° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 151 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Penza (110 km), prays towards 189.1°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

Across the 158 cities in Russia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 148.7° in Kaliningrad to 305.3° in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, a spread of 156.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Russia.

Qibla in cities near Saransk

• Penza189.1° · 110 km
• Arzamas186.7° · 159 km
• Ulyanovsk194.5° · 209 km
• Syzran195.1° · 245 km
• Nizhny Novgorod186.8° · 250 km
• Murom183.6° · 253 km