The Venerated City Of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s capital for 1,500 years, Anuradhapura is a sacred landscape of towering stupas surrounded by monastic ruins. In the grounds of Mahavihara monastery, the Mahabodhi tree still thrives, brought as a cutting from the sacred Bodhi tree beneath which the Buddha had gained enlightenment. King Mahasena ( 274– 301 AD) seized Mahavihara land to build the vast Jetavanaramaya stupa ( sanskrit for “heap”).

Bathing played an important part in city life and some of the best surviving architecture and art is associated with pools, such as Isurumuniya pool with its carvings of elephants in the water.