A capital built around its monuments
For well over a thousand years, from a period traditionally placed in the early centuries BCE until the eleventh century CE, Anuradhapura was the principal royal city of Sri Lanka. Its monasteries, reservoirs and above all its stupas, known locally as dagobas or cetiyas, grew under successive rulers. Today the ruins and the living shrines share a large archaeological park in the dry zone of the north-central plain. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The dagobas are not just ruins. Several are maintained and whitewashed and remain places of daily devotion. Visitors who see white domes filled with people in white clothing are seeing a tradition that has been continuous for many centuries.
Why stupas matter in pilgrimage
A stupa is a solid mound that enshrines relics or marks a sacred event. In Theravada practice, devotees honour the Buddha by walking around it, usually clockwise, offering flowers and lamps, and reflecting on his qualities. The dome, the square railed box above it and the spire each carry meaning, and the parts of a stupa are read differently in different Buddhist countries. At Anuradhapura, the major dagobas also served as royal statements of faith and of the ruler’s merit, so history and devotion are closely linked.
Ruwanwelisaya
The Ruwanwelisaya, also called the Maha Thupa, is one of the most revered monuments in Sri Lanka. The chronicles attribute it to King Dutugemunu, who is traditionally dated to the second century BCE and is remembered as a hero who reunited the island. According to the same tradition, relics of the Buddha were placed inside it. The dome has been restored a number of times, and the present white structure largely reflects modern conservation work on an ancient core.
Around the base you will often see a wall decorated with a frieze of elephants. Devotees circle the platform, kneel, and offer flowers. On full moon days the area can be crowded and the atmosphere is both festive and quiet, as laypeople observe the day with prayer.
Jetavanaramaya
The Jetavanaramaya is associated with King Mahasena, who is traditionally dated to the late third and early fourth centuries CE and who supported a monastic rival to the older foundation at the Mahavihara. It is built of brick on an enormous scale. It is frequently described as one of the largest brick structures in the ancient world, and it was once among the tallest buildings anywhere, though exact historic heights are uncertain and sources give differing figures. It is not whitewashed in the way other dagobas are, so its raw brick surface gives a very different impression.
Its size tells you something about Anuradhapura’s resources: huge numbers of bricks, skilled labour and organised state support. Jetavana was linked to a separate monastic community, and the history of those rival communities is a reminder that Sri Lankan Buddhism was never a single unified institution.
Other dagobas to know
- Thuparama is traditionally regarded as the earliest stupa in the island, built in the reign of Devanampiya Tissa and associated with a collarbone relic of the Buddha. It is smaller than the later giants and has been rebuilt.
- Abhayagiri was the centre of another large monastic community, with a very large stupa and the ruins of a sizeable monastery complex around it. Chinese traveller accounts, including that of Faxian in the early fifth century, mention the island and its monks.
- Mirisawetiya is also attributed to Dutugemunu, and is known in tradition for an episode involving a royal sceptre.
- Lankarama and other smaller monuments scatter the park, along with the carved moonstones at monastery entrances.
The Sri Maha Bodhi tree stands within the same sacred zone, and Mihintale, which is the traditional site of the arrival of the faith, rises a short distance away.
What visitors find today
Visitors should expect a large and spread-out site. Distances between monuments are significant, the dry-zone sun is strong, and many people hire a bicycle or a vehicle for part of the day. Sensible preparation includes water, sun protection and shoes that come off easily, since footwear is not permitted in the sacred precincts. Rules about hats, shoulders and knees are usually enforced at shrines, and photographs that show people turning their back on an image are generally frowned upon.
Please walk clockwise around the dagobas, speak quietly, and avoid climbing on any structure. Some areas are active worship spaces where you may be asked to stay in certain zones. Ticket systems, hours and access change, so check current official information. Full moon days bring many pilgrims, which is meaningful to witness but can be crowded. The usual temple entry customs, such as removing shoes and dressing modestly, apply throughout.
Reading the landscape
If you look beyond the domes, you will see that Anuradhapura was also an engineered landscape of tanks and water channels. Those reservoirs supported a large population in a dry region, and the same state that built them built the dagobas. Seen this way, the great stupas are part of a society’s organisation of land, labour and belief, and that is why they continue to matter to the pilgrims who visit.