RUINED CITIES...

...ancient footprints everywhere

Towering above rural Sri Lankan countryside, a 400 ft high dagoba in Anaradahapura still stands. The 93 million bricks constructing Jetavanaramaya make it the biggest structure in the ancient world next to the pyramids in Egypt...

The Ruined Cities... Anaradhapura, the capital of Sri Lanka from the 4th to the 11th century, the longest continuous capital city in world history, and Polonnaruwa, thriving from the 10th to 13th centuries...

Buddha statues, guard stones, moonstones, remnants of engineering ingenuity and artistic expression still testify of glory days gone by...

Ruined Cities... In the midst of rubble everywhere, the graceful curves and massive size of the few renovated stupas are really impressive...

Gigantic Ruwanwelisaya- 300 ft tall, 950 ft around

Buddhist pilgrims, tourists and their guides, school kids on field trips and lots of monkeys keep the grounds hopping...

Since the days of the tower in ancient Babylonia, it seems all cities in time become Ruined Cities...
I'll be holding out for the New Jerusalem...
and the streets of gold...
and looking up,
Tom