Legends of Ancient Ceylon

Anuradhapura is one of the most ancient and greatest cities of all. It is ruins today while displaying infinite details of rare beauty and traditionalism of the country. Excavations of the site of Anuradhapura prove that human settlement began in the age of 500 B.C.The city remained as the capital of Sri Lanka for about 1,400 years until the 10th century A.D. At that time, it covered about 20 square miles and had a population around several tens of thousands.

According to Buddhists, there are eight places of particular sanctity within Anuradhapura. These were highly worshiped pilgrims since the ancient times. They are; ‘Sri Maha Bodhi’, ‘Ruwanweli Seya’, ‘Thuparama Dagoba’, ‘Jethawanarama Dagoba’, ‘Abayagiri Dagoba’, Lankarama Dagoba’, ‘Mirisaweti Dagoba’, and ‘Isurumuniya Vihara’. The best time to visit Anuradhapura is during the ‘Poson Poya’ in June. Here, they celebrate the advent of the Buddhist religion to the island.

‘Sri Maha Bodhi’ is the oldest historically documented ‘Bo’ tree on earth where worshiping has been unbroken for 23 centuries by the Sri Lanka citizens. It was carried to our country from India as a sampling of the ficus religiosa beneath which the Gautama Buddha himself attained enlightenment. Today, this holy tree, stands with the support of iron crutches where, it placed upon a special platform, a bodhigara, encircled by gold-plated railing. Thus, Most of the ‘Bo’ trees in Sri Lanka as well as Thailand and Burma, have been nurtured from Sri Maha Bodhi’s seeds. And its leaves have provided the shape according to which Sri Lanka’s dagobas are designed.

‘Ruwanmali Seya’, the Great Stupa (Mahathupa) built in the 2nd Century B.C by the king ‘Dutugamunu’. Legends says that, Ruwanmali Seya, the greatest dagoba in Anuradhapura, was completed as the king Dutugamunu lay on the deathbed in 144 B.C. Today, gate houses at each of the cardinal points mark the dagoba’s outer walls. On the southwest to the Mahathupa, a model dagoba stands while showing how Ruwanmali Seya may have originally looked in its pure ‘water-bubble’ shape. Thus, Facing the Great Stupa, there is a massive statue, probably the king Dutugamunu himself, stands respectfully.

North of the Ruwanmali Seya, is the oldest dagoba in the country, the ‘Thuparama’ dagoba. This was a creation of King ‘Devanampiyatissa’ during the period of 3rd Century B.C. and called it “the monastery with the Stupa”. The Dagoba has ‘paddy-heap’ design and one of its kinds. In the 2nd Century, the King Lanjatissa surrounded it with wooden pillars as a Vatadage. The King Agbo II improved the Vatadage with stone pillars and a conical roof. Some of those pillars still stand proudly.

'Abayagiri Dagoba' was found as a monastery by King Vattagamini Abaya in 88 B.C. and is the second largest dagoba on earth after the Jethawanarama. In fact, Jethawanarama is the mightiest mass of its kind. This creation belongs to King Mahasena during 3rd Century

A.D.