Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura

The city that was a capital for thirteen centuries and has not finished explaining itself.

Anuradhapura was the first capital of Sri Lanka, established in the 4th century BCE and ruled continuously for over 1,300 years. At its peak it was one of the great cities of the ancient world --- a planned urban centre with advanced hydraulic systems, multi-storey buildings, and a Buddhist scholarly tradition that influenced the entire Asian continent.

Experiences at this stop

• Sri Maha Bodhi --- the oldest tree in human history

Planted in 288 BCE from a cutting of the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. 2,300 years old. The oldest documented tree in recorded human history. It is still venerated daily by thousands of Buddhist pilgrims.

• Ruwanwelisaya Dagoba

A white dome 55 metres tall, built in 140 BCE. The foundations were laid on compacted sand to create an earthquake-resistant base --- a technically correct engineering solution. Walk around the base at dusk with your guide.

• Jetavanarama Dagoba

At its completion in the 3rd century CE, the third-tallest structure on earth after the two Egyptian pyramids at Giza. Required an estimated 93.3 million baked bricks.

• Ancient tank system

Anuradhapura's engineers built an irrigation network of tanks and channels that fed hundreds of thousands of people. Many are still in use 2,000 years later.