The Great Mosque in Kairouan and the Great Stupa at Sanchi are both very important religious buildings, and are regarded as sacred spaces. They both differentiate in design, size, rituals, and purpose.
The Great Mosque in Kairouan was built under the orders of the founder of Kairouan, Sidi Okba, which is why it also referred to as the Sidi Okba Mosque. The mosque features a courtyard, a cemetery, monk quarters, and various other rooms, span to the size of 443ft long and 262ft wide. The Great Mosque in Kairouan is known as the oldest Muslim place of prayer in North Africa, and is regarded as the fourth holiest site in Islam (after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.) The decorations of the Great Mosque were attractive and practical. 9 doors were carved in detailed inlaid marquetry, and the 414 columns had ancient capitals and beautiful shafts. Not one of the 414 columns in the mosque is similar to any other elsewhere in the mosque. It also featured a system are gathering rainwater.
The Great Stupa at Sanchi was started under the rule of Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE, and additions were being made to it until the fifth century CE. It was paid for my mercantile funds, and inscriptions within the stupa give credit to those who gave money. The stupa, however, features just the one large hemisphere dome, and has a circumference of 120ft, rising to 53ft. The Stupa at Sanchi was built after Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism. It was continued because of the religious fervor surrounding Buddhism, much of which Ashoka contributed to with his zeal for Buddhism. This stupa was built because the citizens needed a place to worship. In the Great Stupa there are four carved gateways that are the cardinal points of the compass that depict scenes in the life of Buddha. The stupa also featured four stone carvings of Buddha, complete with halos.