Anuradhapura city was the first established kingdom and was one of the thriving capitals in ancient Sri Lanka. This kingdom’s authority extended throughout the country. Anuradhapura city is now a world heritage site and has a long written history of more than 2000 years. The famous paintings and structures at Sigiriya, the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa are just a few landmarks which demonstrates the advancement of Anuradhapura period.
So, hello again everyone, I am Lahiru Bandara. And Yes!! I am from this proud city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. I am currently at level 8 of the Google Local Guide program.
From my childhood I was really passionate about studying History and inquired a lot about our heritage. I used to visit most of these ancient monuments and ruins around our country with my parents and even we were taken field trips from the schools to study about the places with great archaeological and historical importance.
But, one of the thoughts which was troubling my mind was, have the authorities put enough effort to preserve our ancient monuments and world heritage sites. What happens if they go unprotected? So our future generations will not be able to witness the pride and the glory of our proud nation and its history. So, as a child I decided to build my own photographic collection of all the places I visit, especially of the place which are well-known attractions. In my childhood days digital cameras are not so popular and were really expensive. We only had analog film cameras. So I had taken so much trouble in capturing and developing hard copies of photographs and preserving them in albums and systematically labeling them and even adding descriptions. Even after I got a digital camera, I started creating a database of the soft-copies of these photographs.
My intention of all these above tasks is to preserve and make available of the information regarding the places of our country which are archaeologically, historically, educationally and culturally important in a presentable manner. Also, lot of people from all over the world visit Sri Lanka each year. My idea will help Sri Lanka to develop as a better tourist destination if we promote these places as well as the places with other attractions.
I was experimenting several platforms to put my idea of a photographic-database into practice. This is the point when I came across the Google’s Local Guide Program attached to Google Maps. I knew Google Maps as an excellent navigation tool, but I was new to the Local Guide program at that time. I found this program to be really fascinating and fell in love the very moment. As I got to know different features of this contribution platform, I understood that this is ideal to work on my idea. So, here I am contributing to Google Maps regarding all the important places, not only in my city but all over the island.
Since then it became a passion of my life. Everywhere I go, even when I am in the middle of a trip with my friends, I used to take few photos or a video of that place. Most of the time I am being teased by my friends asking why am I doing this the whole time. But there actions do not discourage me a bit.
When someone checks a place to visit via Google Maps, its reviews and ratings play an important role. Especially this is lot more useful for foreigners when they are planning their trip. So I usually take it serious when it comes to writing the description of any place. Writing a comprehensive review is one of my targets.
The other feature I like most about this platform is Street View. This enables users to get a broad idea about what any place looks like and it also enables you to have a feeling that you have actually visited that place. Since I decided to add 360 photographs, I used my mobile phone to create 360 photos. But then I understood that it was a hideous task. Then I ordered a RICOH THETA V 360 camera in 2018. Unfortunate enough, I was a proud owner of a THETA V camera for only one and a half weeks. My camera fell down with the tripod and it make two scratch marks on one side of the camera lens. But still I managed to achieve the “Google Street View Trusted Photographer” status using my Samsung Note 8’s camera.
My city is not entirely covered by the Street View. There are blue lines missing here and there. So, I was hoping to add Street View images using my new camera but I was really disappointed with the accident. Recently I got the opportunity to participate the “Polonnaruwa Blue Line Meetup” organized by @AnuradhaP where I got the opportunity to add some Street View imagery myself.
In the meantime I got the opportunity to get to know other Sri Lankan community through participating Local Guide meet-ups organized in different places. The very first person I talked to was @AnuradhaP . He is really a friendly guy with an amazing personality. @AnuradhaP is engaged in many archaeological programs in Sri Lanka and doing a great work there as a service to the country. I got really inspired by his work. Also I should thank @IlankovanT for helping me and other Local Guides in various aspects and organizing meet-ups.
I also got the opportunity to organize a photo-walk meet-up “Thalawathugoda Photo Walk 2019” which was a great experience and at the same time really fun to involve. Photo album of that meet-up can be found here.
And as long as I have my above mentioned intentions in my mind, I will continue to do what I am doing and surely I can guarantee that it pleases me a lot. I joined the Google Local Guide program and in 2017 and I’ve enjoyed each and every step of the way. Thank you Google Maps.
local guide from Srilanka. Keep it up bro, and wishing you best of luck for your next projects and connect live 2019 to
