Red mosque, Pettah, Sri Lanka

Red Mosque, originally known as Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, is located in Colombo. Rising out of the busyness of the second cross street in Pettah.

Colombo had always been a welcoming hub for international trade, where Arabs frequented and populated enormously. They had to perform their five-times compulsory daily rituals. For that reason, the Indian Muslim community was commissioned to put up a mosque in Pettah, and until today, it is taken care of by the Indian Muslim community. This also had been a landmark for sailors to find the way to Sri Lanka.

Started to build in 1908 and completed in 1909, designer and builder is H L Saibo Lebbe, who was influenced by indo – Saracenic architectural style ; an architectural style British invented in India. It’s a mix of native indo Islamic and Indian style with the Gothic revival and Neo-Classical styles favored in the Victorian Britain era.

The shape of the domes and colours of the bricks were influenced by the pomegranate fruit. As in the Quran, pomegranate is known as a fruit from heaven.

All images are copyright protected ©️ Kakusanda | 2022, 2023