Urgent Concern: Kurundi Buddhist Temple Missing from Google Maps!

[AnuradhaP]

@DeniGu I wanted to share an update on a matter we discussed last week regarding the Kurundi Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka. In reply to my previous post, you mentioned that Google had restricted further edits to the temple and had asked me to report any unusual changes. Well, I’ve stumbled upon something quite unsettling.

Today, I decided to check the temple’s status on Google Maps, and to my astonishment, it appears that the Kurundi Buddhist Temple has completely disappeared from the platform. You can refer to the previous map listing through this link. Here are the GPS coordinates of the temple, as suggested by @MortenCopenhagen . [9.1147961,80.7583167]

I want to clarify that I have personally visited the temple site and can vouch for its existence. To provide concrete evidence, I’ve captured a series of photographs showcasing the temple’s presence. I’ve gone a step further and created a Google Street View experience right by the temple. You can explore the immersive 360-degree photos I captured and published on Google Maps in August 2021:

360 Photo 1
360 Photo 2
360 Photo 3

For those curious to see the temple’s surroundings, here’s the link to the Street View I created. And attached to this post, you’ll find the most recent photographs of the Kurundi Buddhist Temple.

Here is the link to the official website. It provides more details on the temple.

This situation has left me quite puzzled and concerned. How could a legitimate Point of Interest (PoI) like the Kurundi Buddhist Temple vanish from Google Maps? Is it possible for someone to intentionally remove an established PoI? This has certainly raised doubts about the credibility of information on Google Maps.

I’m reaching out to our knowledgeable community to shed some light on this matter. Have any of you encountered similar instances? Do you have insights into how Google Maps manages its PoIs and the possibility of their removal? Your input and expertise would be greatly appreciated as we try to unravel this mystery.

Thank you for your time and attention. Let’s work together to uncover the truth behind this perplexing situation.

@MortenCopenhagen asked me to open a new thread for this issue. I would also like to get some insight from @ErmesT .

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @AnuradhaP

Thanks for your super detailed report on this. I can confirm that the link you shared leads nowhere.

Kindly add the GPS coordinates also. You can just drop a pin and share it.

I do see plenty of older photos of the temple on Google Maps. And they belong nowhere.

@AnuradhaP places can vanish by mistake or on purpose when users have options to create and remove places.

Even though temple staff do not consider them to be running a business, they should claim the listing. This will protect it from disappearing again.

I’m tagging @InaS in hope that she will escalate this.

Cheers

Morten

[AnuradhaP]

@MortenCopenhagen Thank you for the prompt reply and suggestion. I updated the post with GPS coordinates.

[Amiran]

Hi @AnuradhaP

Yes. @MortenCopenhagen already knows that we faced such an issue a lot in Iran and Googlers helped to recover several ones, while some others removed permanently

All users can suggest an edit and unfortunately, sometimes the AI approves their removals even for top landmarks and cause huge damage to the map and commuting of people.

In such a situation if we become aware after a short time of the removal, prepare a previous link to the POI (as you did) and also the exact coordinate before the removal (as Morten asked) is helpful in the process of reinstating the POI. The name of the POI on the map, before the removal could also help.

But if we find it long after the removal, it is so hard and sometimes impossible to recover.

I have an idea to prevent such issues by users/spammers but not sure if it is applicable or not, so I even have doubts to describe it in Connect!

[AnuradhaP]

@Amiran Thank you for the information. Let us hope Google can recover this PoI.

[DeniGu]

Hi @AnuradhaP ,

Thank you for all the details provided! I’ll reach out to the internal team right away to check this.

[AnuradhaP]

@DeniGu Thank you. I will wait.

[Amiran]

@AnuradhaP It is now recovered and the previous link works as well thanks to the great help of @DeniGu

[DeniGu]

Aaah @Amiran , you were the first to share the good news. Thanks for always being so vigilant!

Yes, @AnuradhaP , the Kurundi Ancient Buddhist Temple has been reinstated on Maps, together with the relevant contributions. Thank you again for reporting this!

[Amiran]

Thanks a lot @DeniGu

As a user who is living with Google Maps for years, real POIs and especially landmarks that are helpful for many people are very important to me, and losing their data brings sadness to me, even if they are in other countries.

So, when I’m aware of such a situation, I follow their recovery process and when they are alive it brings real happiness to me, like when someone comes back to life.

[AnuradhaP]

@DeniGu I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your valuable assistance in re-establishing the Kurundi Ancient Buddhist Temple on Google Maps. Your support and dedication are truly appreciated.

@Amiran I appreciate your advance notice.

@MortenCopenhagen Thank you for your guidance.