Things To Do In Anuradhapura

Things to do in Anuradhapura

Start at the Sri Maha Bodhi, the sacred fig grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha found enlightenment, planted in the third century BCE and the oldest historically documented tree in the world. Pilgrims in white bring flowers and chant here from dawn.

The sacred city is too big to walk; hire a bicycle and spend a day riding between the great dagobas. Ruwanwelisaya, gleaming white and surrounded by a wall of carved elephants, is still an active place of worship. Jetavanaramaya, built in the third century, was one of the tallest structures in the ancient world and is still among the largest brick buildings ever made. Abhayagiri, in the forest to the north, was a monastery for thousands of monks. Look out for the carved moonstones at the foot of temple steps, the Samadhi Buddha in meditation, and the Kuttam Pokuna, a pair of stone bathing pools.

Isurumuniya, a rock temple by a pond, has the famous carving of the Lovers.

Mihintale, about thirty minutes away, is the hill where Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka in the third century BCE. Climb its stone stairway early, before the rock gets too hot for bare feet.