Anuradhapura is the capital of the North Central Province of Sri Lanka and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, serving as the capital of the ancient Anuradhapura Kingdom from the 4th century BC to the 11th century AD — a period of over 1,400 years. The city is located 205 kilometres from Colombo and 135 kilometres from Kandy on the A9 highway. Anuradhapura was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 as the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, covering a protected area of 4,000 hectares containing over 40 major archaeological monuments including dagobas (stupas), palaces, monastic complexes, ancient tanks (reservoirs), and sacred trees. The city is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage destinations in Asia, attracting millions of pilgrims annually, particularly from Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. A separate modern city has been built adjacent to the archaeological zone, which is managed by the Central Cultural Fund and the Department of Archaeology.
The Sri Maha Bodhi is a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) growing in the Mahamewna Garden in central Anuradhapura, believed to be a sapling propagated from the original Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. According to the Mahavamsa (the Sri Lankan chronicle), the sapling was brought to Sri Lanka by Sanghamitta Theri, the daughter of Emperor Ashoka of India, in 249 BC, at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa. Planted in 249 BC, the Sri Maha Bodhi is the oldest documented living tree in the world with a known planting date, now over 2,270 years old. The tree is supported by a system of iron props and railings added over the centuries as the branches have grown and spread. The tree is enclosed within a walled terrace at the top of a raised platform, with a series of lower terraces where pilgrims perform religious rituals including offering flowers, lighting oil lamps, and chanting pirith (protective verses). The site is active around the clock, with pilgrims present at all hours. Photography is permitted in the outer areas but not on the inner terraces during religious ceremonies. Entry to the Sri Maha Bodhi complex requires modest dress covering shoulders and knees.
The Ruwanwelisaya is a Buddhist stupa (dagoba) located in the sacred city of Anuradhapura, built by King Dutugamunu between 140 and 137 BC, though the king died before its completion. The stupa is classified as one of the Eight Places of Veneration in Sri Lanka and is considered the most sacred stupa in the country. The current structure stands 103 metres tall and has a diameter of 290 metres at the base, making it one of the largest ancient monuments in the world by volume. The exterior is coated in white plaster over a brick core containing a relic chamber sealed inside the stupa. The base of the stupa is surrounded by a procession of 338 elephant sculptures set into the plinth, representing the elephant as a symbol of strength supporting the sacred monument. The stupa has been restored multiple times over its 2,000-year history, most recently in the 1980s when the surface plaster and the golden pinnacle were renewed. The surrounding Maha Vihara complex contains the ruins of monastic buildings, image houses, and bathing ponds that once served a monastic community of several thousand monks.
The Jetavanaramaya is a Buddhist stupa in Anuradhapura built by King Mahasena between 273 and 301 AD. At the time of its construction, it stood approximately 122 metres tall, making it the third tallest structure in the ancient world after the two Great Pyramids of Giza, and the tallest brick structure ever built. The current height after centuries of erosion and partial collapse is approximately 71 metres. The stupa was built using an estimated 93 million baked bricks and required skilled workers over several decades to complete. The relic chamber inside the stupa was excavated by archaeologists in the 1980s and found to contain a golden sash believed to have belonged to the Buddha. The relic is now displayed in the Jetavanaramaya Museum on site. The surrounding Jetavana Monastery complex covers 5.7 hectares and contains the ruins of a library building, uposatha hall (convocation hall), refectory, and residential quarters that once housed over 3,000 monks.
The Abhayagiri Monastery is an ancient Buddhist monastic complex covering 100 hectares in the northern part of Anuradhapura’s sacred zone, established by King Vattagamani Abhaya in 88 BC. At its peak during the 4th to 8th centuries AD, the Abhayagiri Monastery housed approximately 5,000 monks and served as one of the most important centres of Buddhist scholarship in Asia. Unlike the Theravada orthodoxy of the Maha Vihara monastery, Abhayagiri followed the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, and maintained academic exchanges with Buddhist scholars from China, India, and Central Asia. The Chinese pilgrim Faxian visited Abhayagiri in 410 AD and recorded it as having 5,000 resident monks, making it comparable in size to the great monastic universities of India. The Abhayagiri Stupa at the centre of the complex stands 75 metres tall (reduced from an original height of approximately 115 metres) and is the second largest stupa in Anuradhapura after the Jetavanaramaya. The complex contains the Moonstone, a semicircular carved stone threshold at the entrance to the main shrine, considered the finest example of this decorative element in Sri Lanka, carved with concentric bands depicting elephants, horses, lions, and lotus flowers.
The Thuparamaya is the oldest Buddhist stupa in Sri Lanka, built by King Devanampiya Tissa in approximately 247 BC to enshrine the right collarbone of the Buddha, brought to Sri Lanka by Mahinda Thera, the son of Emperor Ashoka who introduced Buddhism to the island. The stupa is classified as a Vatadage (circular relic house) with a circular colonnade of stone pillars surrounding the dome. The current pillars, standing 4 to 7 metres high, are the remnants of a roof structure that once covered the stupa. The Thuparamaya is located within the sacred city area 1 kilometre north of the Sri Maha Bodhi and is the first stupa any Buddhist pilgrim visits in Anuradhapura as it predates all others on the island by several centuries.
Anuradhapura’s ancient hydraulic system, developed from the 4th century BC onward, represents one of the most sophisticated irrigation networks of the ancient world. The city and its surrounding agricultural lands were sustained by a series of large man-made reservoirs called wewa or tank in Sinhala. Tissa Wewa, covering 160 hectares, was built by King Devanampiya Tissa in the 3rd century BC and supplied water to the sacred city area. Nuwara Wewa, covering 1,200 hectares, is the largest reservoir in Anuradhapura and was built by King Kutakanna Tissa in the 1st century BC. Basawakkulama (also called Abhaya Wewa), covering 70 hectares, is the oldest reservoir in Anuradhapura, constructed by King Pandukabhaya in the 4th century BC and still in use today. The reservoirs were connected by a network of canals and sluices that distributed water across the agricultural lands surrounding the city. The engineering principles used in these ancient structures, including brickwork sluice gates (bisokotuwa) that regulated water flow using hydraulic pressure, were highly advanced for their era. The reservoirs remain functional today and continue to supply water for agriculture in the surrounding district.
Anuradhapura is served by regular tr
