This is the most visited on of the three Anuradhapura stupas. Ruwanwilisiya Dagoba is so white that it shines like marble in the bright equator sunlight: Prayer flags around Sri Maha Bodhi Tree Ruwanwilisiya DagobaĪnd then the white stupa I mentioned in the beginning. The Anuradhapurans also built a rock temple called Isurumuniya Monastery, with a huge reclining Buddha that is too big to fit in any photos.Īnuradhapura: Isurumuniya Monastery reclining Buddha Buddhist FlagsĪll Buddhist temples and stupas in Sri Lanka have a lot of flags around. Some more top things to see in Anuradhapura: Isurumuniya Monastery This dagoba was the world’s third tallest structure after the pyramids. Jetavanarama Dagoba was in the photo above. Now I will show you the three great dagobas I already mentioned: Jetavanarama Dagoba It was brought to Sri Lanka as a cutting from the tree Buddha sat below.Īs Anuradhapura is a real treasure UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site. The place has strong connections to the country’s history and it is a pilgrimage site for all Sri Lankan Buddhists. There are smaller dagobas, temples and monuments, and a whole ruined city, much of which hides in the jungle.Īnuradhapura also has the original bodhi tree that should be the world’s oldest tree. and there were 113 successive kings that all added their monuments.Īnuradhapura contains three large dagobas, also called stupas: Jetavanarama Dagoba that you can see above, Abhayagiri Dagoba that looks about the same but has pillars, and the whitewashed Ruwanwelisiya Dagoba with elephant statues. The whole island was ruled from here for a long time. Jetavanarama Dagoba in Anuradhapura, one of Sri Lanka’s ancient citiesĪnuradhapura was a wealthy jungle city and home to 2 million people. So we began the jungle part of our trip from Anuradhapura, the oldest of the lost capitals: Anuradhapura If you want to know how we did that and what travel agent was involved in our trip, check out my Sri Lanka main post What to See in Sri Lanka.
#Sri lanka ancient cities driver
We were touring Sri Lanka for two weeks in all, with a car and a driver which we had for our whole stay. Map of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle and its sights Arranging Our Trip So all these ancient cities and temples flourished and disappeared – and the jungle took over. Sigiriya Rock was forgotten in the jungle.
After that groups of monks still lived on the rock, until they abandoned it in the 12th century. The castle on Sigiriya Rock again was built in the 5th century, by a prince who lived on the rock top for a couple of decades until his suicide. Years later Sri Lanka was ruled from Kandy further south, until when the British came and moved the capital to the coast. Polonnaruwa was abandoned and forgotten in the jungle. However in the 13th century Sri Lanka was invaded from India. In that phase the kings moved to Polonnaruwa that became the new capital of the country.Īn ancient pond in Anuradhapura, one of Sri Lanka’s ancient cities The first city was Anuradhapura from where the kings ruled the country for more than a thousand years, from the 4th century BC to the 11th century AD. It is a must see place if you are in the country, and a real treasure for history and nature lovers.īut what were these ancient cities and how did they all disappear? Sri Lanka’s Ancient Cities Most tourists visiting Sri Lanka prefer staying on the country’s coastline but everey traveler should also visit the Cultural Triangle. The area in question is the Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka, located in the central region of the country. Sri Lanka’s ancient cities, a dagoba in the jungleĮxcavations still go on in Sri Lanka’s jungles and more temples, palaces and private homes are found. One after one these cities disappeared and became parts of the jungle, until the Europeans came and found these lost cities with their stupas and dagobas that were so well preserved.
Sri Lanka’s ancient cities had dagobas almost as big as the Egyptian pyramids.
We went to see Sri Lanka’s ancient cities that once were the capitals of some of the world’s great kingdoms. Sri Lanka has a long and remarkable history, most of which happened in the jungles.
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