ANURADHAPURA
This remarkable city of Anuradhapura is Sri Lanka’s most sacred town and has some of the most extensive ruins in the world. This city served as a great monastic centre. It remained residence and royal capital for over 100 successive Sinhalese Kings for around 1500 years from the 4th century BC to the 8th century AD, after which it was abandoned and the capital moved to Polonnaruwa.
Anuradhapura has eight main places of veneration, known as “atamasthana”. They are;
Sri Maha Bodhi
The Sri Maha Bodhi, the oldest historical tree in the world, is a cutting from the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya in India under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. For sure this is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest religious icons and symbolizes the greatness of the Buddha. In around 250 BC this sacred tree was brought to Sri Lanka by the daughter of the great Emperor Asoka of India and sister of Arahat Mahinda, the monk who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
The following places are venerated monuments known as dagobas or stupas. Mostly shaped like a tea cup turned upside down, the significance of theses dagobas lies in the fact that one or more sacred relics of the Buddha are enshrined within the walls.
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