Striped facade
Red and white.
Ranji Banji — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ketheeswaran sujiv — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sasha India — CC BY 2.0 · Original photo- Dan Lundberg Edit- User:Jesuschristonacamel — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Ayshaahmeddd — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dan Lundberg — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ayshaahmeddd — CC BY-SA 4.0 · FarahN10 — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of Colombo's oldest and most eye-catching mosques, standing on Second Cross Street in the crowded Pettah market district, its facade striped red and white like a stick of candy and topped with small domes, minarets and a clock tower. It was built in 1908–1909 for Pettah's Muslim community from South India, for the five daily prayers and Friday prayers. Its designer and builder was the local craftsman Habibu Lebbe Saibu Lebbe, working from images of Indo-Islamic buildings brought by the traders, and the result is a unique blend of Indo-Islamic, Gothic Revival and neoclassical styles. It originally held about 1,500 worshippers, and it is said that sailors approaching the port used it as a landmark before taller buildings rose around it. It remains one of the capital's best-known and most photographed sights. Visits are free outside prayer times, in modest dress covering arms and legs, with a headscarf for women and shoes off at the door. Morning is best, before the market around it gets busy.
Red and white.
Above the entrance.
All around.
Second Cross Street, Pettah, Colombo
Yes, visits are free outside prayer times, in modest dress with a headscarf for women and shoes off.
