Customisable Guided Tour in Anuradhapura

Welcome to Rajarata ! (The King’s County or The Land of Kings) We will commence our day from Vessagiriya Forest Monastery, which is one of the two oldest Buddhist Monks living dwellings in the island. At Vessagiriya, the guests will start to deep dive into the Ancient Sinhalese Civilization nourished with Buddhism, Agriculture, Fine Arts, Architecture, Trades, International Relations, and Spellbinding Engineering Marvels and there you get an idea of how Anuradhapura looked like in its golden era from its very beginning.

Hidden on the side of a boulder face at the Ran Masu Uyana (The Royal Goldfish Park) sandwiched between the Tissa Wewa and the Isurumuniya Rock Temple at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka is a unique artefact of Ancient Sri Lanka which is locally known as “Bawa Chakraya” or the “Sakwala Chakraya.

The Sri Maha Bodhi Tree or The Sacred Bodhi Tree ( A Fig or Pipal Tree scientifically known as the Ficus Religiosa) is regarded as the first of the eight sacred places in Anuradhapura. This is recorded to be the right wing branch of the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya in India under which the Ascetic Siddhartha attained Enlightenment, and was sent by Emperor Ashoka through his beloved daughter, The Buddhist Nun Theri Sanghamitta, on request of Sinhalese King Devanampiyatissa in the 3rd century BCE. From this point onwards it came to be venerated by successive Kings, Monks, Nuns, and the Lay Buddhists since it is a living connection to the Gautama Buddha. Particularly, it is generally accepted that it would be the oldest human planted living tree in the world with the longest written records and at present nearly 2300 years old.

To the north or the Sacred Bodhi Tree, we can witness a huge collection of standing granite pillars which has been identified as the dilapidated building of the ancient Brazen palace which was once served as the administrative Center of the ancient Maha Vihara Monastery Complex constructed under the guidance of Great King Gamini Abhaya in 2nd Century BCE, a grand son of King Devanampiyatissa. It was a nine-storey building with 1000 different chambers. The name, Brazen Palce derives from the fact that its roof was thatched with copper tiles.

Ruwanveliseya stupa also known as the Ratnamali or as the Mahathupa ( Th Great Stupa) was constructed under the guidance of Great Kind Gamini Abhaya in the second century BC. The chronicles fantastically describes of the inauguration ceremony of this Stupa as great festival that was held in Anuradhapura with the participation of Invited Guests even from other countries as diplomats. However it was destroyed during Chola Invasion by 10th century AC and was restored the stupa to its original glory in the 12th century AC by King Parakkramabahu the greatest. Then anyhow what we see today is the most recent restored form which was completed by Ratnamali Stupa Development Society in 1940, what was firstly initiated by Ven. Naranvita Sumanasara Thero in 1873 as he wanted to restore it to its former glory.

At the premises of Mahapali Alms Hall, we will witness a collection of ruins of few different buildings, the largest one would be the Mahapali Refectory, where supplied the meals for Buddhist Monks from the royal kitchen. It has been conjectured that the term “Mahapali’ derives from the custom of monks coming for their meals in a long line according to their seniority. The refectory was actually considered as a part of the royal palace itself. A huge Stone-trough seen here served as a receptacle for rice. To the north west, we find another dilapidated building that was the Temple of the sacred tooth relic in ancient times. After The Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka, it was regarded with highest esteem and acquired the status of an important religious and royal symbol. Therefore they housed it safely closer to the Royal Palace. After the Tooth Relic Chamber we move to a little bit far north and you will come across a huge dig which was a recent excavation.

This picturesque pair of Ponds built on the low ground are undoubtedly exquisite specimens of land scape architecture and of course a wonderful hydraulic system showing not only the talents but the aesthetic sense of these magnificent people.

This is really somthing like a modern steam bath, but this was not merely to enjoy steam bathing with warm water but of a well-developed sinhalese medication which performed in 4th century AC onwards. At there we can discuss how it was functioned and how Sick monks in Abhayagiriya University cured their skin deceases.

There we will again see a large granite trough in the shape of canoe stands with an amazing intaglio in the refectory premises of the Abhayagiriya Monastery. The Chinese monk Fa-hsien who was studying at the Abhayagiriya University in 5th Century AC recorded that there were 5000 Buddhist monks in the Monastery and this particular trough could hold sufficient rice for such a number.

This is one of the finest works of art in Sri Lanka dates back to about the 8th Century AC. And this masterpiece is preciously showcasing the aesthetic sense of the ancient craftsmen and how incredibly they have put their knowledge, ability, talents, feelings into practice.

This is popularly known as the Eth-Pokuna to the locals or the Elephant Pond in English, situated to south-west of the Refectory is perhaps the largest Man made pond in the Asia that was built in the 3rd century AC. It is said that this is three times bigger than a modern day Olympic swimming pool. The miracle here is not only its enormous size but the underground conduits which still functions and have been supplying water to the pond from nearby reservoirs and in the south west corner we can note a cistern sluice which suggests that water was distributed to other relatively smaller ponds in the vicinity depicting the superb hydraulic engineering skills of the ancient Sinhalese.

The moonstone is another most beautiful and breathtaking creation of the ancient sculptor. It serves as a doormat at the foot of a flight of steps to a Buddhist shrine, but the sculptor transforms it into a work of art far excellence.