Anuradhapura

For over 1000 years, Sinhalese kings – and occasional South Indian interlopers – ruled from the palaces of Anuradhapura. It was the most extensive and important of the Sri Lankan royal capitals, but its size and the length of its history, and the length of time since its downfall make it more difficult to comprehend than younger, shorter-lived Plonnaruwa Current-day Anuradhapura is a rather pleasant, planned city. Mature trees shade the main guesthouse areas, and the main street is orderly compared to the ugly concrete agglomerations seen in so many other regional centres.

Getting there & away

Bus

Anuradhapura has ‘old’ and ‘new’ bus stations – the old bus station is further north, closer to the train station. Private express buses leave from near the old bus station. Buses heading south start at the old bus station and call by the new bus station, while buses heading north to Vavuniya and east to Trincomalee start from the new bus station. It is easier to get a good seat from the starting point. There are departures to Trinco (Rs 47, 3½ hours) from early morning; to Kandy (CTB/intercity bus Rs 75/150, three hours), via Kekirawa and Dambulla, every hour or so until about 5pm; and to Polonnaruwa (Rs 46, three hours) every hour from around 5.30am to 6pm. Buses to Kurunegala (CTB/intercity bus Rs 45/100, two hours) leave every 30 minutes from about 6am; those to Colombo (CTB/intercity bus Rs 107/210, five hours) leave every 30 minutes between 4.30am and 7pm. For Puttalam you may have to catch a bus to Kala Oya (private bus Rs 20), and then another bus on to Puttalam (Rs 27). Buses to Kala Oya go past the road to Wilpattu National Park (get off at Maragahawewa and change for Hunuwilagama).

Train
Anuradhapura has two train stations; the main Anuradhapura station and the smaller Anuradhapura New Town further to the south. Trains to Colombo depart at 7am, 8.40am, 2.30pm and 11.40pm. First-class seats are available on the 7am intercity express and the 2.30pm and 11.40pm trains. It takes four to five hours to reach Colombo, all being well. Prices are Rs 102 for a seat in 3rd class, Rs 191/309 in 2nd class for a seat/sleeper and Rs 420/520 in 1st class for a seat/sleeper. For Matara (9½ hours) and Galle (3rd/2nd class Rs 154/291, 8½ hours) catch the Rajarata Rajini at 5am. You can also travel between Anuradhapura and Kandy by any train, changing at Polgahawela.

History

Anuradhapura first became a capital in 380 BC under Pandukabhaya, but it was under Devanampiya Tissa (r 247–207 BC), during whose reign Buddhism reached Sri Lanka, that it first rose to great importance. Soon Anuradhapura became a great and glittering city, only to fall before a South Indian invasion – a fate that was to befall it repeatedly for more than 1000 years. But before long the Sinhalese hero Dutugemunu led an army from a refuge in the far south to recapture Anuradhapura. The ‘Dutu’ part of his name, incidentally, means ‘undutiful’, because his father, fearing for his son’s safety, forbade him to attempt to recapture Anuradhapura. Dutugemunu disobeyed him, and later sent his father a woman’s ornament to indicate what he thought of his courage.

Dutugemunu (r 161–137 BC) set in motion a vast building program that included some of the most impressive monuments in Anuradhapura today. Other important kings who followed him included Valagamba, who lost his throne in another Indian invasion but later regained it, and Mahasena (r AD 276–303), the last ‘great’ king of Anuradhapura, who was the builder of the colossal Jetavanarama Dagoba. He also held the record for tank construction, building 16 of them in all, plus a major canal. Anuradhapura was to survive for another 500 years before finally being replaced by Polonnaruwa, but it was harassed by invasions from South India again and again – invasions made easier by the cleared lands and great roads that were a product of Anuradhapura’s importance.

Basawakkulama

Anuradhapura has three great tanks. The oldest tank, probably dating from around the 4th century BC, is the 120-hectare Basawakkulama (the Tamil word for tank is kulam ) to the north.

Brazen Palace

So called because it once had a bronze roof, the ruins of the Brazen Palace stand close to the bodhi tree. The remains of 1600 columns are all that is left of this huge palace, said to have had nine storeys and accommodation for 1000 monks and attendants.

Buddhist Railing

A little south of the Jetavanarama Dagoba, and on the other side of the road, there is a stone railing built in imitation of a log wall. It encloses a site 42m by 34m, but the building within has long disappeared.

Folk Museum

A short distance north of the Archaeological Museum there's a Folk Museum with dusty exhibits of country life in Sri Lanka's North Central Province.

Isurumuniya Vihara

This rock temple, dating from the reign of Devanampiya Tissa (r 247-207 BC), has some very fine carvings. One or two of these (including one of elephants playfully splashing water) remain in their original place on the rock face beside a square pool fed from the Tissa Wewa, but most of them have been moved into a small museum within the temple.

Tivanka Image House

Polonnaruwa's northern road ends at Tivanka Image House. This spectacular image house is, like the Lotus Pond, one of the few surviving structures of the Jetavanarama monastery. Its name means 'thrice bent', and refers to the fact that the Buddha image within is in a three-curve position normally reserved for female statues.

Jetavanarama Dagoba

Built in the 3rd century by King Mahasena, the Jetavanarama Dagoba's huge dome may have originally stood over 100m high, but today is about 70m, a similar height to the Abhayagiri, with which it is sometimes confused. At the time it was built it was the third-tallest monument in the world, the first two being Giza pyramids in Egypt.

Kuttam Pokuna

The swimming-pool-like Twin Ponds, the finest bathing tanks in Anuradhapura, are a little east of Sanghamitta Mawatha. They were probably used by monks from the monastery attached to the Abhayagiri Dagoba. Although they are referred to as twins, the southern pond, 28m in length, is smaller than the 40m-long northern pond. Water entered the larger pond through the mouth of a makara (mythical multispecies beast) and then flowed to the smaller pond through an underground pipe.

Mahasena's Palace

This ruined palace northwest of the Abhayagiri is notable for having the finest carved moonstone in Sri Lanka. Photographers will be disappointed that the railing around it makes it almost impossible to achieve an unshadowed picture. This is a peaceful wooded area full of butterflies, and makes a good place to stop and cool off during a tour of the ruins.

Mirisavatiya Dagoba

Mirisavatiya Dagoba is one of three very interesting sites that can be visited in a stroll or ride along the banks of the Tissa Wewa. This huge dagoba, the first built by Dutthagamini after he captured the city, is almost across the road from the Tissawewa Rest House. The story goes that Dutthagamini went to bathe in the tank, leaving his ornate sceptre implanted in the bank. When he emerged he found his sceptre, which contained a relic of the Buddha, impossible to pull out.

Nuwara Wewa

Anuradhapura has three great tanks. Nuwara Wewa, on the east side of the city, is the largest, covering about 1200 hectares. It was built around 20 BC and is well away from most of the old city.

Ratnaprasada

Follow the loop road above Vata Mandana Rd and you will find the finest guardstones in Anuradhapura. Dating from the 8th century, they depict a cobra king, and demonstrate the final refinement of guardstone design. You can see examples of much earlier guardstone design at the Mirisavatiya Dagoba.

Royal Palace

Built by Vijayabahu I in the 12th century, after Anuradhapura's fall as the Sinhalese capital, the palace is indicative of the attempts made to retain at least a foothold in the old capital.

Royal Pleasure Gardens

If you start down the Tissa Wewa bund from the Mirisavatiya, you soon come to the extensive Royal Pleasure Gardens. Known as the Park of the Goldfish, the gardens cover 14 hectares and contain two ponds skilfully designed to fit around the huge boulders in the park. The ponds have fine reliefs of elephants on their sides. It was here that Prince Saliya, the son of Dutthagamini, was said to have met a commoner, Asokamala, whom he married, thereby forsaking his right to the throne.

Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba

Behind the Folk Museum, this fine white dagoba is guarded by a wall with a frieze of hundreds of elephants standing shoulder to shoulder. Apart from a few beside the western entrance, most are modern replacements for the originals from 140 BC.

Sri Maha Bodhi

The Sri Maha Bodhi, the sacred bodhi tree, is central to Anuradhapura in both a spiritual and physical sense. The huge tree has grown from a cutting brought from Bodhgaya in India by the Princess Sangamitta, sister of Mahinda (who introduced the Buddha's teachings to Sri Lanka), so it has a connection to the very basis of the Sinhalese religion.

Thuparama Dagoba

In a beautiful woodland setting north of the Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba, the Thuparama Dagoba is the oldest dagoba in Sri Lanka - indeed, it's probably the oldest visible stupa in the world. It was constructed by Devanampiya Tissa in the 3rd century BC and is said to contain the right collarbone of the Buddha. Originally in the classical 'heap-of-paddy-rice' shape, it was restored in 1862 in a more conventional bell shape and to a height of 19m.

Archaeological Museum

Anuradhapura's Archaeological Museum also houses a ticket office for the ancient city. It's worth visiting for the museum's gorgeous old building, let alone the exhibits inside. It has a restored relic chamber, as found during the excavation of the Kantaka Chetiya Dagoba at nearby Mihintale, and a large-scale model of Thuparama Dagoba's vatadage as it might have been if a wooden roof (for which there is no physical or epigraphic evidence) had existed.

Abhayagiri Museum

The Chinese-funded Abhayagiri Museum , just to the south of the Abhayagiri Dagoba, commemorates the 5th-century visit of Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian to Anuradhapura. Faxian spent some time living at the Abhayagiri monastery, translating Buddhist texts, which he later brought back to China. The museum, arguably the most interesting in Anuradhapura, contains a collection of squatting plates, jewellery, pottery and religious sculpture from the site.