Hi @AdamGT ,
The colour chosen here does not have any cultural significance, but I’ve read somewhere that the architect who designed it did not go with the ‘onion shaped dome’ for the temple, but rather a ‘pomegranate’ shape and decided to go with the colour of the fruit. The architecture however, is based on the Indo-Saracenic style. Since most of the buildings surrounding the temple are either shades of colours leaning towards white, the vibrant red stands out from the rest.
Some claim that it was used as a guiding beacon for incoming ships in the early days of Colombo.