Boasting a magnanimous outlook and an epic architectural design, the Red Mosque is one of the most prominent places of worship in Colombo. Also known by the name Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque it is also regarded as one of the oldest mosques in Colombo and has now become a renowned tourist site in the metropolis.
The mosque was built in the year of 1909 by a local Muslim community in order to have an establishment to fulfil prayers which should be followed five times a day and Jummah on Fridays. The mosque’s architect was Habibu Labbe Saibu Labbe and he made the mosque’s distinctive design based on Indo-Saracenic structures which were particularly requested by the people who commissioned him. The design of the mosque, however, is regarded as a hybrid of different architectural styles such as Indian, Indo-Islamic along with Neo-Classical architecture seamlessly woven into its signature design movement.
The original building had the capacity of accommodating up to 1500 worshippers but today most of the adjacent buildings have been annexed into the mosque and space has been expanded to accommodate up to 10,000 worshippers. The mosque’s distinctive painting style is a direct resemblance of the Jamek Mosque in Kuala Lumpur and with its unique and eclectic architecture, it has now become one of Colombo’s major icons.
