Sin: රත්නපුර ratnapura – Tam: இரத்தினபுரி irattiṉapuri
‘Gem City’ SBP, Sri Lanka
From Sin: ratna, ‘jewel, gem’; and pura, ‘city’.
Ratnapura is the traditional centre of Sri Lanka’s gem trade.
There are many gem ‘mines’ in the area where you can watch the miners digging pits (most only 10-50m deep) in the flood plains, and washing the gravel to extract rubies, sapphires and other precious stones.
