Anuradhapura. Bringing you to the Sri Lankan History
Anuradhapura or Anuradhagaama, founded by the King Pandukabhaya, is termed as the first kingdom of Sri Lanka.This ancient city boasts not only of having many places of great archeological value but also of incredible irrigation system and buildings of high quality architecture of Sri Lanka.
Travelers could reach Anuradhapura via Kandy-Jaffna A9 road which is a drive of 205km from Colombo city or on Colombo-Puttalam road. This city is situated in North central province, most of historical sites are located within the inner part of the city called ‘Pujaa Nagaraya’.
Most of local pilgrims visit Anuradhapura during the months of June, July and August as a result of which the holy city gets crowded. Accommodation available in the City ranges from very low cost rest rooms to five star hotels.
Among many ancient sites and monuments that can be seen here, sacred Sri Maha Bodhiya is the foremost since this is considered to be one of oldest trees in the world, which is a sapling of the Bo tree under which Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment. Other places which the Buddhist followers able to visit and worship include Ruwanweli Pagoda, Thooparama Pagoda, Jethawana monastery complex, Abhayagiri monastery complex, Twin Pond, Elephant pond etc.. The Moonstone, Muragala or Guard stone and Samadhi Statue are great masterpieces of Sinhalese architecture which reflects the pride of Sri Lankan art. Also a must see location is Mihinthalaya,which is considered to be the place where Arahant Mahinda brought Buddhism from India, which is located 6km away from the city and Thanthirimale Temple complex located 25km far from Anuradhapuraya.
For the foreign visitors, an entrance fee is payable to visit some places.
The number of ancient sites are so innumerable that you will be unable to cover all these places within a single day. Hence pre planning is very essential.
Anuradhapura city experiences dry and hot weather condition during most part of the year in. Therefore dresses to ward off heat would be of immense help. Also keep your camera ready for you will not want miss any site out of your memory.
