Anuradhapura
3rd BC - 10th AD
Several centuries before the Jesus Christ, while the Greek empire was at its zenith, many other regions were emerging from the stone age; Anurdhapura was already and advanced civilization. The city was well laid out and well linked. Irrigated by sophisticated systems of man-made lake s and canals, this city was a world trade center. This is evidenced by the Greek merchant guide book titled "purples of the Erythraen Sea", Ptolemy's first ever map, and further by monk travelers Fa Hien and Buddagosha of, the 5 th century A. D.
Anuradhapura was known from Tibet to Yellow Sea.
But unlike Greek and Roman ruins, Anuradhapura has only the remains of a monastic architecture. This city's name means the City of Anuradha.
Anuradha was the first general of the king Vijaya: the legendary ancestor of the Sinhalese race. The city measured 52 square kilometers' and was maintained by at least 500 scavengers.
The city was divided into several quarters.
Foreign traders lived in one quarter. Their houses were of 2 or 3 stories. Artisans occupied some avenues.
Anuradhapura was known from Tibet to Yellow Sea.
But unlike Greek and Roman ruins, Anuradhapura has only the remains of a monastic architecture. This city's name means the City of Anuradha.
Anuradha was the first general of the king Vijaya: the legendary ancestor of the Sinhalese race. The city measured 52 square kilometers' and was maintained by at least 500 scavengers.
The city was divided into several quarters.
Foreign traders lived in one quarter. Their houses were of 2 or 3 stories. Artisans occupied some avenues.
Ruwanweliseya
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya
THE OLDEST HISTORICAL TREE IN THE WORLD
The introduction of the Sacred Bodhi Tree, the oldest historical tree in the world and the most venerated, is commemorated by Buddhists in Sri Lanka on Unduwap Poya (full moon) day.
Unduwap Poya is more popularly known as Sri Sanghamitta Day, beacaus it was the missionary nun Sanghamitta who brought the sacred Bodhi hear. It was a branch of the original Ficus Religiosa under which the Buddha gained enlightenment when meditating in a park at Buddha-Gaya, India.
Sangamitta was the sister of the Apostle Mahinda, who introduced Buddhism to this country. His missionary work during the reign of Kings Devanampiya Tissa (250-210BC) was singularly successful. Many men and women wanted to be ordained as monks and nuns.
The rules of the priesthood, however, forbade Mahinda from ordaining women. Accordingly, he advised the king to request the Emperor Asoka of India to send his sister, Sangamitta, with a party of nuns for this purpose. He also suggested that the Emperor be requested to send a branch of the Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya which would be planted hear as an object of veneration and would keep the devotees always in mind of his teachings. King Tissa commissioned his nephew, Arittha, for this job. His mission was successful and Sangamitta duly arrived with a chapter of nuns and a branch of the Bodhi Tree in a golden pot.
The king, who had rushed to the port to meet her, went neck-deep in the sea to take the sacred branch, and in a gesture of proud humility took upon himself the duty of acting as a guard out side its temporary residence on the shore.
From there the sacred saplin was with great ceremony to the capital city of Anuradhapura.
On the way, the royal party broke the journey at Tantirimale, where a large shrine was later built to mark this occasion.
All that is left of that shrine today is a vandalized 10-metre long reclining image of the Buddha, and a Bodhi tree that is said to have been raised from a sapling taken from the tree at Anuradhapura.
In Anuradhapura, the sacred Bodhi still stands where it was originally planted in the king's pleasure garden, although the garden is no more.
Other kings after Tissa improved the site with ornamental gateways, flights of steps and channel the tree.
Even after Anuradhapura was given up us the capital city, and the jungle tide overtook the Dagabas(stupas) and other monuments, the Bodhi Tree was protected by the villagers. They lit bonfires around it every night to ward off wild beasts.
The firewood required for this purpose was collected in toto for the whole year and brought there in a procession on the night of the Nikini Poya, or August full moon.
This procession is continued even today in memory of those bygone times. It is called the Daramiti Perahera,or the procession of the bundles of firewood.
In old Anuradhapura, now declared a sacred city, the ones ostentatious buildings are no more today than an inanimate pacthwork of the stone mason'sand craftsman's art. The only living thing is the sacred Bodhi Tree.
Propped on platform upon platform, enclosed by white washed walls and an iron railing, and surrounded by altars laden with perfumed flowers and spluttering candles,it still remains green, once again a focal points of worship and pilgrimage.
In the words of historian Paul E Peiris: "It is doubtful whether any other single incident in the long history of their race had seized upon the imagination of the Sinhalese with such tenacity as the planting of the Sri Maha Bodhi.
"Like its roots which find sustenance on the face of the bare rock and cleave their way through the stoutest fabric, the influence of what it represents has penetrated in to the inner most being of the people."
THE OLDEST HISTORICAL TREE IN THE WORLD
The introduction of the Sacred Bodhi Tree, the oldest historical tree in the world and the most venerated, is commemorated by Buddhists in Sri Lanka on Unduwap Poya (full moon) day.Unduwap Poya is more popularly known as Sri Sanghamitta Day, beacaus it was the missionary nun Sanghamitta who brought the sacred Bodhi hear. It was a branch of the original Ficus Religiosa under which the Buddha gained enlightenment when meditating in a park at Buddha-Gaya, India.
Sangamitta was the sister of the Apostle Mahinda, who introduced Buddhism to this country. His missionary work during the reign of Kings Devanampiya Tissa (250-210BC) was singularly successful. Many men and women wanted to be ordained as monks and nuns.
The rules of the priesthood, however, forbade Mahinda from ordaining women. Accordingly, he advised the king to request the Emperor Asoka of India to send his sister, Sangamitta, with a party of nuns for this purpose. He also suggested that the Emperor be requested to send a branch of the Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya which would be planted hear as an object of veneration and would keep the devotees always in mind of his teachings. King Tissa commissioned his nephew, Arittha, for this job. His mission was successful and Sangamitta duly arrived with a chapter of nuns and a branch of the Bodhi Tree in a golden pot.
The king, who had rushed to the port to meet her, went neck-deep in the sea to take the sacred branch, and in a gesture of proud humility took upon himself the duty of acting as a guard out side its temporary residence on the shore.
From there the sacred saplin was with great ceremony to the capital city of Anuradhapura.
On the way, the royal party broke the journey at Tantirimale, where a large shrine was later built to mark this occasion.
All that is left of that shrine today is a vandalized 10-metre long reclining image of the Buddha, and a Bodhi tree that is said to have been raised from a sapling taken from the tree at Anuradhapura.
In Anuradhapura, the sacred Bodhi still stands where it was originally planted in the king's pleasure garden, although the garden is no more.
Other kings after Tissa improved the site with ornamental gateways, flights of steps and channel the tree.
Even after Anuradhapura was given up us the capital city, and the jungle tide overtook the Dagabas(stupas) and other monuments, the Bodhi Tree was protected by the villagers. They lit bonfires around it every night to ward off wild beasts.
The firewood required for this purpose was collected in toto for the whole year and brought there in a procession on the night of the Nikini Poya, or August full moon.
This procession is continued even today in memory of those bygone times. It is called the Daramiti Perahera,or the procession of the bundles of firewood.
In old Anuradhapura, now declared a sacred city, the ones ostentatious buildings are no more today than an inanimate pacthwork of the stone mason'sand craftsman's art. The only living thing is the sacred Bodhi Tree.
Propped on platform upon platform, enclosed by white washed walls and an iron railing, and surrounded by altars laden with perfumed flowers and spluttering candles,it still remains green, once again a focal points of worship and pilgrimage.
In the words of historian Paul E Peiris: "It is doubtful whether any other single incident in the long history of their race had seized upon the imagination of the Sinhalese with such tenacity as the planting of the Sri Maha Bodhi.
"Like its roots which find sustenance on the face of the bare rock and cleave their way through the stoutest fabric, the influence of what it represents has penetrated in to the inner most being of the people."
Abayagiriya
Samadhi Buddha Statue
Mahamevuna Uyana. Anuradhapura,
"Samadhi Budu Pilimaya"
This limestone image of lord Buddha is dating from the 3rd Century.
Seated under a Bo tree, depicts the Lord Buddha in the serene state of Samadhi, or deep meditation. It's not secret why the Great Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru found solace and strength in a photograph of this statue when he was imprisoned by the British in 1940s.
The kindness of Lord Buddha flows through the half closed eyes, Watch as as long as you like. This is the finest Meditation Buddha statue in the whole World.
Isurumuni Lovers
6th Century Gupta style carving. The woman, seated on the man's lap, lifts a warning finger, probably as a manifestation of her coyness; but the man carries on regardless."
The figures may represent Dutugemunu's son Saliya and the law caste (Sadol Kula) maiden Asokamala whom he loved. It's known that he gave up the throne for her.
Mahamevuna Uyana. Anuradhapura,
"Samadhi Budu Pilimaya"
This limestone image of lord Buddha is dating from the 3rd Century.
Seated under a Bo tree, depicts the Lord Buddha in the serene state of Samadhi, or deep meditation. It's not secret why the Great Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru found solace and strength in a photograph of this statue when he was imprisoned by the British in 1940s.
The kindness of Lord Buddha flows through the half closed eyes, Watch as as long as you like. This is the finest Meditation Buddha statue in the whole World.
Isurumuni Lovers
6th Century Gupta style carving. The woman, seated on the man's lap, lifts a warning finger, probably as a manifestation of her coyness; but the man carries on regardless."The figures may represent Dutugemunu's son Saliya and the law caste (Sadol Kula) maiden Asokamala whom he loved. It's known that he gave up the throne for her.
Sandakada Pahana (The Moonstone)
The latter consists of the elephant, a symbol of birth, the bull indicative of decay; the lion, resent in disease. and the geese, a symbol of death. Some also band of geese, which represents the dist between good, and evil. To some, the moon-stone is symbolic of transcending worldly temptations and achieving nibbane.
At the heart of many moonstones is a lotus petal. Buddhists regard the lotus as a sacred flower, a symbol of the male and female creative forces that prevails throughout Sri Lankan art, architecture, sculpture and literature. It figures in the legend attached to the birth of the Buddha, when seven lotuses sprang into bloom at his feet as he took the first seven steps of his life. The lotus bloomed again in profusion at the moment he reached the state of Enlightenment.
Kuttam Pokuna
These 3rd Century monks' bathing pools are archaeologically perfect.
The water that feeds the ponds flows first into a filtering basin made of rock; It runs through a beautiful makara mouth and a lion's head into the smaller tank. A submarine conduit feeds the larger tank.
Guard Stone (Naga King)
This is the finest of it's kind in Sri lanka dated from 8th century AD and one of the climax of Sinhalease art works.He is the god of water,The God of protection and with a vase of plenty which is a symbol of prosperity and carrying a flower stalk which is a symbol of pertility.
King figure is adorned with beautiful jewels and above it's head rise seven hooded cobras. It is said that he is from heaven and this is the moment he touches the floor.
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