Mirisawetiya

More than 2100 years ago,  Mirisawetiya is one of the oldest dagabas in Sri Lanka. Built by the great King Dutugemunu, this masterpiece structure is a must see for all visitors to the holy city of Anuradhapura.

It is believed that the great King Dutugemunu made here many desires that have come true during his life.

After placing the Buddha's relics on the scepter, she had gone to Tissa Wewa for a bath leaving the scepter. After the bath he returned to the place where the scepter was placed and it is said that he could not move. The stupa was built where the scepter was. He is also said to have recalled that he participated in a cold curry without offering it to the sangha. The Mirisavetiya Dagaba was built to punish her. The area of this land is about 50 hectares. Although King Kasyapa I and Kasyapa V renewed it, it became dilapidated from time to time.

Thuparamaya

Thuparamaya, the oldest Stupa in Sri Lanka built after the introduction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The Thuparamaya, built by King Devanapiyatissa, consecrates the sacred neck bone of the Buddha. This relic, a gift from India, is a testament to the cordial relations maintained by the then ruler of Sri Lanka. The columns around the stupa were a part of the walkway that supported a roof that covered the sacred building. Aesthetically, the interior of such a structure must have been the impressive expression of wood engineering and the most skilled craftsmen. Scholars and scientists continue to debate and debate the conical design of the building, unique in the architectural history of the world. The discovery of medical texts and surgical instruments dating to the Anuradhapura period confirm the quality of life of this time. The tradition of using stone troughs as medicinal baths to cure the sick was fashionable during the Anuradhapura and later Polonnaruwa periods and before Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka. The patient, paralyzed or in a coma after a snake bite, immersed himself in a bath enriched with the appropriate medicinal potions that would gradually be absorbed into the body. Interestingly, the shape of the vessel was modeled to economize expensive fluid. The name Thuparamaya is a residential complex for Bhikkhus.

Statue of Samadhi

The statue of Samadhi is considered one of the best sculptures of Anuradhapura time. It is believed to be done during the 3rd or 4th century. It is made of dolomite marble and is 2.21 meters high. This statue was found at the current location in 1886 with ground damage to the nose. Then the nose was erected and reconstructed. In 1914, it was damaged by treasure hunters and rebuilt.

The statue's eyes are empty indicating they were impressed with crystal or gemstones. It is unclear if this and the second statue were brought from another vihara or were originally kept here.

It is said that when you look at the statue's face from three sides they show 3 different features. Looking at the profile of the left and right face they show a slight sadness and a slightly smiling face. Looking from the forehead, the face shows neutral features.

At present this carving is covered by a concrete structure which has somewhat destroyed the beauty of this statue. Even the reconstruction of the nose has not been a success that seems very artificial.

Next to the Samadhi statue is the ruins of an image house called the Bodhisattva Image House. According to Maha Vamsa, the great chronicler of Sri Lanka, King Dhatusena (459-477) is said to have built an image house for the Maithree Bodhisattva left at the shrine of Abhayagiriya Bodhi and decorated in royal clothes. These remains are believed to be the house of the image built by King Dhatusena. An image of Bodhisattva limestone buried in the rubble dating to the 5th century was found.

Ruwanwelisaya

The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa and a semi-spherical structure containing relics, in Sri Lanka, considered sacred to many Buddhists around the world. Two-quarters or a drone of the relics of the Gothama Buddha are consecrated at the summit, which is the largest collection of their relics anywhere. It was built by King Dutugemunu c. In 140 BC, he became king of all Sri Lanka after a war in which the Chola king Elāra (Ellalan) was defeated. It is also known as "Mahathupa", "Swarnamali Chaitya", "Suvarnamali Mahaceti" (in Pali) and "Rathnamali Dagaba".

This is one of the "Solosmasthana" (the 16 places of worship) and the "Atamasthana" (the 8 places of worship of the ancient sacred city of Anuradhapura). The stupa is one of the tallest ancient monuments in the world, measuring 103 meters (338 feet) and with a circumference of 290 meters. The original stamp was about 55 meters high and was renovated by many kings. The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda in Sagaing, Myanmar is modeled after this stupa. The Mahavamsa contains a detailed account of the construction and inauguration ceremony of the stupa.

The stupa was a ruin in the 19th century. After fundraising for a Sinhalese bhikkhu, it was refurbished in the early 20th century. The Ruyaveli Seya Restoration Society was founded in 1902 and the final culmination of the stupa was on June 17, 1940.

ANURADHAPURA

Anuradhapura was settled by Anuradha, a follower of Prince Vijaya, the founder of the Sinhala race. Later, King Pandukabhaya was converted into the capital around 380 BC. According to the Mahavamsa, the epic of Sinhalese history, the city of King Pandukabhaya was a model of planning. Awards were given to hunters, hunters and heretics, as well as to aliens. There were hostels and hospitals, at least one Jain Chapel, and high and low caste cemeteries. A water supply was secured through the construction of reservoirs, artificial reservoirs, of which the king's own name exists to this day with the altered Baswakkulam name.

It was during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa (250 - 210 B.C.) that Arahat Mahinda, son of the great Buddhist emperor Asoka, led a group of northern India missionaries in Sri Lanka. With his followers he settled in a cave hermitage on Mihintale Hill, a name derived from Mahinda's. The new religion devastated the earth in a wave. The king himself donated land for a large monastery in the heart of the city, which was also his own royal park, the beautiful gardens of Mahamegha. The Buddhist principality only had a century to flourish when it was temporarily overthrown by a Chola invader. Kingdom of South India. The religion, however, received no setback.

At this time, far away on the southeastern coast, there was a growing prince who would become a paladin of Sinhala nationalism: Dutugamunu (161 - 137 B.C.)

For all his martial power, King Dushta Gamini must have been a man of singular sensibility. He built the MIRISAVETI DAGOBA and the mighty Brazen Palace, which was nine stories high and presented to the Mahasanga (order of the monks). But RUWANVELI DAGOBA, his most magnificent creation, did not live to see its completion. 

Two at least of the Anuradhapura kings should be mentioned, only because some of the most important monuments are attributable to them. The first of these was Vattagamani Abhaya (Valagamba) (103 and 89-77 B.C.), the first year of his reign the Chola invaders re-emerged and temporarily hid him. For fourteen years, while five Tamil kings occupied his throne, he often wandered in shelters in the jungle caves. It is known that, from his crudeness when an old Jain hermitage passed, an ascetic, Gin called him and mistreated him. "The big black lion is running away!" Throughout his exile the gibe was placed. At last gaining the Kingdom, he demolished Giri's chapel on the ground and built the ABHAYAGIRI monastery. His name is a little unknown and the hermit was tactless, as well as (a mountain without fear), a discharge of his cowardice!

Next came the heretical king Mahasena (274 - 301 AD) who built the largest JETAWANARAMA in Dagoba in Sri Lanka (World Heritage Site), a very complicated irrigation system and 16 large tanks (tank) such as MINNERIYA, Even today, thousands of hectares of rice land are irrigated. .

Anuradhapura continued for six hundred more years as a national capital. But as the protected prosperity diminished and the prosperity and internal struggles for royal succession diminished, they became more and more vulnerable to the pressures of the expansion of South India; and finally the city was abandoned and the capital retired to the farthest parts.