Anuradhapura – an Ancient and Sacred Grandeur of Sri Lanka
There is an element of thrill traversing through the unsecure terrain or brushing past the boundaries of militarily hostile neighbors. I felt this excitement at the India Pakistan Wagha border in Amritsar, traveling past the southern Lebanon townships near Israel border. However, neither of the above would match the excitement of our travel to Anuradhapura along A9 highway that heads straight to Jaffna. Anuradhapura was considered as a last frontier in the battlefield of LTTE and Sri Lanka Govt. It was Nov 2008. Sri Lankan defense forces were nailing down LTTE but LTTE still had the punch. There were reports of LTTE losing hold on the eastern front but Northern machinery was still intact. There was a lurching fear that LTTE might get desperate and bounce back to avenge their loss of eastern front. Exactly a year ago, LTTE had made daring air, ground attack on the Anuradhapura Air Base, and destroyed seven aircrafts. This was the highest casualty suffered by Sri Lanka Air Force in the