The damage was not only to buildings. It entered places of prayer, trade, memory, and belonging.

In recent years, Muslim communities in Sri Lanka have faced repeated waves of targeted violence. Homes, businesses, mosques, vehicles, and schools were attacked in outbreaks that left families displaced and neighbourhoods marked by fear.

This story looks at the aftermath rather than the spectacle of violence. A prayer cap lies among burnt remains. A stairwell carries smoke on its walls. Inside a mosque, the carpet is lifted and reset, as if the room itself is trying to breathe again.

These photographs hold the quiet labour that follows communal violence: cleaning, returning, repairing, and praying in places where safety had been broken.