Anuradhapura was the capital of an ancient Sinhalese civilization in Sri Lanka. The civilization thrived based on an extensive system of river channels and reservoirs for irrigating rice-paddy fields that still provide the staple of the Sinhalese diet. Its history was preserved in the Mahavamsa, a Sinhalese chronicle recorded by Buddhist monks. According to the chronicle, Anuradhapura once spanned 50 miles and was surrounded by large suburbs. It was inhabited from 600 B.C. to 1300 A.D. The many wonders of the city are too numerous to be given full justice here.
Hydraulic Engineering
When Anuradhapura was in its glory, the Sinhalese were well-known in South Asia for their skill in hydraulic engineering. The construction of reservoirs and river channels was essential to the development of the civilization based on wet rice cultivation. This system was made possible by the use of “valve towers” or “valve pits,” which the Sinhalese discovered about two thousand years before the concept became known in modern engineering. Ten of the reservoirs exceed 4000 acres. The 255-acre Abhaya Tank is one of the oldest reservoirs in Lanka (as Sri Lanka was then known). It was constructed between 437-367 B.C. and was used for over 1500 years. The knowledge that built these hydraulic feats was lost with the collapse of the civilization.
Buddhism
Anuradhapura is well-known as a cultural center and as the starting point for the establishment of Buddhism in Lanka. Landmarked with rock temples, pagodas, and serene Buddha statues, the ruins of the city are revered by Sri Lankan Buddhists today. According to the Mahavamsa, India’s Emperor Asoka sent his son, the Buddhist monk Milinda, to convert King Tissa to Buddhism in the 3rd century B.C. King Tissa and his royal court enthusiastically embraced Buddhism and established it as the state religion of Lanka. This popular story is challenged by the presence of over one thousand Buddhist cave dwellings scattered across the island. Inscriptions above the cave entrances date them from the 3rd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Of the 1,234 caves, only 79 were recorded as donations from the royal family, implying that sponsorship of the religion was widespread. However, King Tissa did begin a tradition of building huge stupas (also called pagodas or dagobas), temples, and monasteries as a way to accumulate religious merit.
Sri Maha
Bodhiya
The royal court was so impressed with Buddhist teachings that 500 ladies wanted to be ordained as nuns. Milinda sent for his sister in North India, who brought with her Lanka’s founding order of nuns and a branch of the sacred Bodhi tree that sheltered the Buddha as he attained nibbana. The tree from the original cutting has flourished at Anuradhapura for 2300 years and is venerated by Buddhist practitioners. At least 2500 years old, it has survived its parent tree at Bodh Gaya.
Stupas
Stupas are built to house the remains of revered people, not for any purpose associated with the afterlife, but as a sign of devotion. In design and engineering they are similar to Egyptian pyramids, but they are dome-shaped and have a solid interior. Early Sinhalese stupas are surrounded by rows of columns, which have an unknown origin. Because they decrease in height the farther they get from the stupa, they may have supported a roof that extended around the structure. One of the most sacred is the bell-shaped Thuparama Dagoba, the oldest dagoba in Sri Lanka, which was built by King Tissa around 300 B.C. to enshrine a collar bone relic and alms bowl of Gotama Buddha. The relic was a gift sent by King Asoka. The Ruwanweli Seya, or “Great Stupa,” constructed in the 2nd century B.C. by King Dutugamunu, was modeled after the shape of a water bubble. It was the first of the large stupas at 254 ft in diameter and 180 ft high. The Jethawana Stupa, built in 276-303 AD, is the tallest brick structure in the world, though its apex has collapsed. When it was intact it stood at a height of 460 feet.
Like other Buddhist works of art, the Thuparama and Ruanweli went through periods of destruction, decay and restoration with changes in the political structure of the region and because of the sheer amount of energy it takes to maintain such a structure. When they were rediscovered in the 19th century the stupas appeared as mounds covered in brush. They have since been restored and are considered sacred sites.
Rock Art
Among the works of art we find lotus ponds carved out of stone, statues of Buddhas and kingly figures, and carvings of dwarves, serpents, and animals. Distinctive features of the architecture are the famous “moonstones,” semi-circular slabs at the foot of stairways that prevent bad spirits from entering. The low-relief carvings of vegetation, animals, and lotus flowers are remarkably well-preserved due to the Buddhist custom of walking barefoot in sacred places.
Isurumuniya is one of the first rock-temples established at Anuradhapura and was built by King Tissa. Here there is a little pool with a terrace carved with beautiful rock art about 150 years after the temple was built. There are carvings of elephants and dwarves, common figures in ancient Sinhalese art, and one of the most famous works of art in Anuradhapura: “The Lovers,” a carving of a laughing couple lounging on a couch. According to local legend, this is a depiction of a Prince who renounced the throne to marry a lower-caste woman.
Destruction and Restoration
In the 1st century B.C., about 30 years after King Tissa’s death, Sri Lanka was invaded by Tamils from South India for the first time. The first Tamil Hindu King Elara was a benevolent ruler who protected Buddhism as the state religion and gave equal treatment to his Tamil and Sinhalese subjects. After many years he was overthrown by Prince Dutugemunu (161-137 B.C.), who rebelled against his father’s wishes by killing the well-respected ruler.
It has been speculated that Dutugemunu did many of his pious works out of guilt for his rebellion against King Elara. The Lohopasada, or “Brazen Palace” was built to house the monks of Mahavihara, the historic center of Theravada Buddhism in Lanka. The nine-story monastery was covered with plates of burnished copper and contained apartments finished in silver and embellished with gold and gems. Because he wanted to generate as much good kamma as possible for his pious deed he prohibited anyone else from making a contribution to the monastery. There are some incidents recorded of citizens sneaking a brick of their own into the project to gain a share of some of the merit, only to be forcibly paid by the king. The monastery eventually fell into decay and was dismantled to support the Abhayagiri sect. All that remains today are 1400 granite monoliths.
Over the history of Lanka Tamil rulers occasionally invaded and established themselves for a period of time. During periods of Hindu Tamil rule, the Buddhist monuments of Anuradhapura were respected under some rulers and vandalized by others. The decimated structures were rebuilt and sometimes added on to by conquering Sinhalese rulers. The invasions became more and more frequent until the Sinhalese abandoned Anuradhapura in 781 A.D. and moved the capital to Polonnaruwa 60 miles to the east and eventually to Kandy in the protected highlands.
Anuradhapura Today
Some of the sacred sites at Anuradhapura were under the charge of the Buddhist sangha until 1940. These sites are still used for Buddhist ceremonies and festivals today. Thus, they are not static relics, but living places of worship. They have also become popular tourist sites.
Coningham, Robin A. E.
1995 Monks, Caves and Kings: A Reassessment of the Nature of Early Buddhism in Sri Lanka. World Archeology 27(2):222-242.
Devendra, D.T.
1959 Seventy Years of Ceylon Archeology. Artibus Asiae 22(1/2):23-40.
Raven-Hart, Rowland
1964 Ceylon: History in Stone. The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. Lake House, Colombo.
Swaan, Wim
1966 Lost Cities of Asia. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York.
To view pictures of Anuradhapura visit:
Ven. S. Dhammika
2007 Sacred Island: A Buddhist Pilgrim's Guide to Sri Lanka. Electronic document, http://www.buddhanet.net/sacred-island/anuradhapura.html,
accessed 5/15/08.
World Heritage Centre
2008 Sacred City of Anuradhapura. Electronic document, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/200, accessed 5/16/08.
Written by Melissa Lorentz, 2008.