April 2017 issue of JetWings, the in-flight magazine of Jet Airways, carried my Polonnaruwa Vatadage (Sri Lanka) image in their regular B&W section – Radar. Polonnaruwa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
POLONNARUWA – HOUSE OF A HOLY RELIC, SRI LANKA
History books state that King Parakramabahu I shifted his capital here – approximately 230 km from Colombo – from Anuradhapura in 12th century AD. Unique to Sri Lankan architecture, vatadages were built to protect small stupas enshrined with an important relic. This type of architecture is believed to have been at its peak during this period. The Polonnaruwa Vatadage specifically is considered to be one of the best examples of this type of architecture and the moonstone at its north entrance (seen in the foreground here) is regarded as the finest in the region.
📷 Photographer’s Note
Something in this post caught your eye — a slant of light, a detail the guidebook skipped, a piece of history that sits differently now that you have seen it through a lens. Good. That is exactly what these posts are for.
This site is part of a larger body of work: over 110 UNESCO World Heritage Sites photographed across 40+ countries, with the same approach — the history, the light, the politics, and what most visitors walk past without noticing. I have put the India coverage together in two dedicated guides. If you want more of this, start there.
