Anuradhapura

The first kingdom of Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura means the “City by Anuradha”. Legend is that a minister named Anuradha of the first king, Vijaya, established this kingdom on the banks of a river called Kolon. During the time of King Pandukabhaya, in 377 BC, this was made the capital and developed as a comprehensive city. Thus this religious and political centre flourished until year 993 and bears countless ruins of monasteries, palaces, monuments, statues, roads and much more. It also boasts of a highly developed system of irrigation with technologically advanced canals, reservoirs, gardens, tanks and ponds. The “atamasthana” or the eight sacred places – temples, “dagaba” or pagodas, and the sacred “Bo” (Fig) tree an offspring of Lord Buddha’s ‘tree of enlightenment’- are the most visited in Anuradhapura.