Anuradhapura: The Bodhi Tree Blooms

In the epic saga of Sri Lanka, the day when the Lord Buddha gained enlightenment was the time when a prince from India sailed across the ocean landed in Sri Lanka and stayed in Anuradhapura. What came to the island country along with the prince was the advanced culture of that time ̶ Buddhism. Anuradhapura then flourished, Buddhism was spread, and a kingdom was then founded. Year after year, the history of Sri Lanka grew and expanded in the land with Buddhism for thousands of years from then on to today.

With a history of 2,500 years, Anuradhapura was set as the capital of Sri Lanka in 380 A.D. and had always been serving as the land of throne in the 1,000 years that followed. The historic site of the old imperial palace was discovered and has been being repaired since then. The most famous scenic spot in the city is Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, with a history of 2,600 years, which is a national treasure that is second to the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha.

The tree standing on a high stage has already witnessed 2,000 years of history and is a national treasure that is only second to the Sacred Relic of the tooth of Buddha. The tree grew out of the twig from the Bodhi Tree under which Siddhartha Gautama gained enlightenment. In 300 B.C., North Indian King Ashoka’s daughter came to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism, and she brought the twig to Sri Lanka and planted it in the city. Generations of guardians have been protecting it since then.

Among all the artistic treasures of Sri Lanka, the treasure that touches our hearts the most is a quiet and plain towering stupa. The Buddhist art of the island country can date back to the time when Gautama Buddha was still alive on earth. The original design of the stupa was from India, and was initially used as a container to store the legacies of the Buddha (In 500 B.C., the Buddha visited Sri Lanka for the third time), including several of his hairs, nails, as well as the articles that he used such as alms bowls.

The magnificent stupas directly shot to the sky, and they reached their golden time in the Anuradhapura Kingdom. This glorious period never stopped until the 10th century. Among the dozens of white dome stupas in Anuradhapura, the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa, boasting a history of over 2,600 years, enjoys the most fame. It is 1,100 meters tall and its base is 96 meters in diameter. Located on a three-layered platform and beneath the base of the stupa is a cubic entity made of bricks. The top of the central cylinder pillar is conical, with the top decorated by gilded ornaments. The scale of it far exceeds the sizes of all other stupas on the island and during the golden era, it was also the largest stupa of its kind in all the Buddhist nations. Today, the white color we see is the newly whitewashed color of it.