Anuradhapura - Forgotten or Founded?

Say about landing on top of acres and acres of coconut grove. Not until your plane will be almost near touchdown that the tarmac will be visible.

Welcome to Srilanka and our first destination will be Anuradhapura.

It is difficult to say if this place is a forest in ruins or ruins in a forest. One thing is certain with time both the ruins of whatever is still remaining have intertwined with the forest. Today neither can be separated.

What little is left of Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Srilanka was once lost to mankind until rediscovered in the 1800s. And with that discovery emerged the story of the place being the cradle of Sinhalese civilization. And today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Affectionately called the ‘Garden of Dagobas’ (a dome-shaped shrine containing relics of the Buddha or a Buddhist saint) even in its ruins Anuradhapura is beautiful. Sacred as this place is, it is said Lord Buddha himself has visited this place. A veil of sanctity delicately can be seen hovering over this place. And thousands of prayers whispering in the air. Even the prayers of the lost civilization.

Well while all that is lost is never really lost. Are they? They remain somewhere in the pages of history or in the memories of those who knew. And that is how Anuradhapura was never really forgotten nor founded.