The capital of North Central Province and Anuradhapura district, Anuradhapura is the ancient capital of Srilanka. It is also famous for the ruins of ancient Srilankan civilization that are presently in ruins. The city is declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. It is one of the eight world heritage sites
Easily reachable via train and road Anuradhapura sri lanka is connected through the Northern railway line to Colombo, Jaffna and Kankesanthurai. Â Anuradhapura also houses the ancient Bo tree dating back to 245 BC. The massive improvisation in the living standards helped the city house a massive population.
Places of attraction
- The Sri Mahabodhi tree is unbelievable sight to watch. The branches of this tree appear so slender that one will be fooled into thinking the limbs of this tree would need clutches but truth is the tree is nearly 2200 years old and has been authenticated as the oldest tree in history.
- Loha Prasada the brazen place is another significant historical sight with nearly 1600 pillars
- The Mahathupa – Ruwenweli Dagaba is the center piece of the Maha Vihara. The top of this Mahathupa is an extremely beautiful bubble that used to have ruby the size of a human fist however today it stands with a 2 feet high rock crystal donated by the Burmese.
- The Thuparama Dagaba, is the first Buddhist building with graceful monolithic pillars and a bell shape stupa display Sinhala architectural feature
- The Jetavana Dagaba is another interesting attraction recorded with having a strong concrete base and brick foundations that 26 feet deep
- The Abhayagiri Monastery and Dagaba was a monastery and housed 5000 monks in its grounds that spread across 500 acres. The Dagaba used to be a beautiful and extremely powerful institution. The grounds of Abhayagiri showcase the finest work of architecture in Anuradhapura. Themonastery is one of the eight Buddhist holy shrines.
- The Samadhi Buddha is a worldwide masterpiece
- The Kuttam Pokuna- The twin Ponds is a landscape architecture built on a massive scale. The twin ponds are extremely beautiful to watch and are still functional. Besides the spout there is a Naga stone considered the best in Srilanka.
- The Mirisavati Dagaba has a massive archaeological research and conservation work being conducted by the archaeological department andUNESCO in a project known as Cultural Triangle.
- Some of the structures that attract your attention in Anuradhapura are
- Isurumuniya
- A vaman sculpture from Anuradhapura
- Vessagiri
- Queens Palace
- Sela Cetiya
- Naka vihara
- Ranmasu Uyana
- Toluwila statue
Anuradhapura is one of the oldest cities still inhabited, in the world. It remained a stable and prime center for political and progressive urban life in entire south Asia. Anuradhapura sri lanka is an important city considered holy with the Buddhists across the globe. The region has monasteries covering an area of sixteen square miles.
Anuradhapura sri lanka grew fame as a ritualistic center as well as administrative center. The city attracted a large population wanting to settle in this hotspot and beautiful location. Several ponds found their way her under the reign of King Vasabha. The ponds received water form subterranean channels made to supply water to the city. Besides the Ponds large lakes were also set that helped with irrigation of the surrounding paddy fields. Several tanks were built to irrigate the land. Some of these tanks exist even today.
Beautiful parks were set to beautify the city. Anuradhapura as a matter of fact is famous for the well preserved ruins of it early civilization. The parks however were reserved only for the royal members in the ancient times. Anuradhapura surprisingly had a lot of hospitals too during the 4th century.
