PLACES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTEREST The best known of
Sri Lanka's ancient city. Founded about the 4th century BC. Sri Lanka's
first capital. It was the capital of a Sinhalese kingdom until the 8th
century AD. The city is in northern Sri Lanka, capital of North-Central
Province. A number of Buddhist monuments here date back over 2,200
years. THE SRI MAHA BODHI TREE
Sacred, authenticated BO tree in the world (2,200 years). A branch of the very Bo beneath which at Buddha Gaya in North India the Buddha himself found Enlightenment, it was brought to Sri Lanka in the 3rd B.C. by the Princess Sangamitta, a sister of the Mahinda Thera. Many pilgrimages are made each year to the sacred bo tree. RUWANWELISAYA
THE THUPARAMA DAGABA
This most ancient dagaba in Sri Lanka was built by King Devanampiya Tissa to enshrine the Buddha's cellar bone.
THE ABHAYAGIRI DAGABA
Among the chastest and handsomest works of Anuradhapura ashlar are
these Twin Ponds belonging to the Abhayagiri establishment. Recently
restored. THE LOVERS at ISURUMUNIYA
ISURUMUNIYA
THE SAMADHI BUDDHA
This 4th Century (c) AD statue of the Buddha in meditative pose is a world famous Buddha statue and acknowledged as a masterpiece. THE MIRISAVATI DAGABA
King Duttha Gamini celebrated the seventh day after his victory with a water festival at the Tissa tank. Nearby on the shore he planted his spear (the King's spear, generally containing a Relic of the Buddha, was the royal standard in battle) and laid his clothes. Here he built his first Dagaba, enshrining in it his spear with its Relic in expiation, as he himself explained, of his impiety in having once eaten a relish (miris) "without a thought of the Brotherhood".
THE KUTTAM POKUNA
Among the chastest and handsomest works of Anuradhapura ashlar are these Twin Ponds belonging to the Abhayagiri establishment. Recently restored. LANKARAMAYA
GUARD STONE
MOON STONE
LOWAMAPAYA
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