Ian Lockwood

MUSINGS, TRIP ACCOUNTS AND IMAGES FROM SOUTH ASIA

Archive for May 2010

Portrait & Panorama in Anuradhapura

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The Abhayagiri moonstone is said to be the finest in all of Sri Lanka. (photographed with a 120 Noblex Panoramic camera with Kodak T-Max 100 film).(October 2010)

Sri Lanka’s ancient capital city at Anuradhapura is one of the country’s most important archeological and cultural sites. For 900 or so years it was the capital city of a prosperous and strong kingdom whose wealth was built on the foundations of ingenious water management and irrigation. Its embrace of Buddhism is celebrated and witnessed in the many dagobas, moonstones, carvings and other archeological artifacts that lie scattered over a large area. At its center is the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi tree that was brought as a sapling from Bodhgaya during the reign of King Asoka in the third century BCE. The tree is of enormous symbolic importance to Buddhists on the island and is the site of many modern pilgrimages. These images were taken with a combination of film and digital cameras in October 2010.

( Top) Basawakkulama tank at dusk, looking towards Mirisavatiya dagoba. (Lower Left) Dwarf at Abhayagiri (Lower Right) Moonstone detail near Ruvanvelisaya

Lankarama dagoba and complex

Collage illustrating scenes from in and around Anuradhapura. (Clockwise from upper left) Guardstone duo at Thuparama, Abhayagiri complex area, guardstone at Ratnaprasda, Ruvanvelisaya dagoba and ruins in foreground

Thupurama dagoba, north view. (photographed with a 120 Noblex Panoramic camera with Kodak T-Max 100 film).(October 2010)

 

North entrance at Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura. Digital multi-image composite.

Ruvanvelisaya dagoba at sunset, Anuradhapura

Written by ianlockwood

2010-05-31 at 5:25 pm

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