taru-adjective, adverb taking the 'to' particle
Describes a landscape, scene, or atmosphere that is barren, empty, and lifeless, often with a sense of loneliness. Used as a たる adjective or adverbially with と.
荒涼とした砂漠がどこまでも続いていた。
A desolate desert stretched on endlessly.
冬の海岸は荒涼としていて、
The winter seashore was bleak, with no one in sight.
寂しい describes a personal feeling of loneliness or a lonely atmosphere, while 荒涼 focuses on the physical barrenness and desolation of a place.
荒廃 emphasizes ruin, decay, or devastation, often of man-made structures or land, whereas 荒涼 stresses the empty, dreary quality of a natural or open space.
Compound of 荒 (rough, wild) and 涼 (cool, refreshing), but here 涼 is used in its extended sense of 'lonely' or 'desolate'. The spelling 荒寥 uses 寥 (lonely, quiet) more directly, but it is rare.