Thuparama Dagaba
The Thuparama was the first Buddhist building at Anuradhapura. It was built by King Devanampiya Tissa to enshrine the Buddha’s collar bone. Originally of the “paddy heap” shape, its present “bell” shape dates to reconstruction in the 1840s. The graceful monolithic pillars surrounding it once upheld a circular roof making the shrine a Vata Dage (Circular—Relic—house) a characteristically Sinhala architectural feature.
Jetavana Dagaba
To the east of the Mahathupa lies an enormous brick dagaba, the Jetavana. The dagaba was originally built to a height of 400 feet (120 Metres), making it the 3rd largest building in the world at that time. The two taller buildings were the biggest of the Egyptian pyramids, built two thousand years before.
Mahasena built this massive dagaba in the 3rd Century AD, in a apparent show of strength and support to the Sagaliya sect of the Buddhist order which he followed. This was against strong opposition from the powerful and established orthodox Maha vihara order.
Abhayagiri Vihāra, Monastery & Dagaba
Established by King Vattagamini in 88 BC, the Uttravihara (Northern Monastery) is now known as the Abhayagiri Vihāra, (Monastery). This was a result of the King being jeered by a Jain hermit, while fleeing from from the South Indians, after losing his throne. He spent 14 years ‘in the wilderness’.
When he returned to power, he destroyed the Jain Monastery, and around the the Jotiya shrine, he built a Buddhist monastery.
Abhayagiri Vihāra was the largest monastery in Sri Lanka for about 600 years. It housed 5000 monks in its grounds of more than 500 acres (235 hectares), and was at the time the most powerful institution in the country after the king.
Samadhi Buddha
Samadhi is a state of deep meditation, and the Lord Buddha is represented in this position after gaining enlightenment. This 4th Century AD statue of the Buddha in meditative pose is acknowledged worldwide as a masterpiece. The Indian Nationalist leader, Nehru, derived strength from contemplating his statue, during his imprisonment by the British.
Kuttam Pokuna – The Twin Ponds
The twin ponds are a magnificent example of landscape architecture built on a grand scale. The ponds are in fact not twins at all, pond (b) being longer by 40 feet than pond (a). The stone molding of the baths and the flights of steps leading to the water are graceful and austere, but above all natural. Apart from their beauty, the twin ponds are very functional. Water which is fed through an inlet is cleaned and purified several times over; before the cool water gushes out into the pond through a lions-head spout.
Besides this spout is a Naga stone, perhaps the best in Sri Lanka. The water eventually drains away from pond.
Mirisavati Dagaba
King Duttha Gamini celebrated the seventh day after his victory with a water festival at the Tissa tank. Nearby on the shore he planted his spear (the King’s spear, generally containing a Relic of the Buddha, was the royal standard in battle) and laid his clothes.
Here he built his first Dagaba, enshrining in it his spear with its Relic—in expiation, as he himself explained, of his impiety in having once eaten a relish (miris) “without a thought of the Brotherhood”. The Vahalkadas (frontispieces) are particularly striking.
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