Sri Lankan Oldset Stupa

The Thuparamaya is the oldest stupa in Sri Lanka as well as it was constructed by King Devanampiyatissa in 3rd century BCE. It is connected with the Maha Vihara Temple- the temple holds the tooth of the Buddha and people are believe the Thuparamaya holds the collarbone of the Buddha. The Thuparamaya is believed to have served as the residence of the woman monks of the Maha Vihara Temple. This structure is considered the earliest memorial of history in Sri Lanka. Over the years the stupa was destroyed numerous times and what we see today was re-constructed by King Agbo II in 1862 CE. The dome is 11 feet 4 inches (3.45 m) in height from the ground, 164½ ft (50.1 m) in diameter. The compound is made-up with granite and there are two rows of stone pillars around the Thuparamaya.

Lovamahapaya was constructed by king Dutugamuna in 150 BCE, for the bhikkhus who studied at Mahaviharaya Buddhist University as well as it was nine story building built as a residence. The important thing is this building is recommended over 3000 bihikuhs for residence. The building was also referred to as the Audacious Palace since its roof was covered with bronze tiles. There are 40 rows; each row consists of 40 stone pillars and a total of 1600 stone with beautiful carvings pillars were used for the building. The Lovamahapaya was one of the most valuable, beautiful and luxurious of its time: the window frames were made of silver and gems were embedded into the railings, pictures on the wall were painted with gold and lines of pearls were used to beautiful decorate.

The City Of Kandy & Temple of Tooth

The city of Kandy

The city of Kandy is located 116 kilometers from Colombo. It is 465 meters above sea-level and nestled in the mountainous central region of the island. First established in the mid-14th century, the city resisted many invasions by the Portuguese and Dutch, who occupied most of the island from the 16th century onwards.

Kandy remained the last independent capital of Sri Lanka until the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, when it came under British rule in 1815. The seats of power then shifted to the coastal areas of Kotte and Colombo. However, it is still considered the religious and cultural center of the country, with numerous temples and monasteries, Buddhist colleges and beautiful parks and gardens.

The Lankatilaka Temple is known for its traditional Sinhalese architecture and was built in 1344 atop a rocky and uneven hilltop. The Embekke Deval

Kandy remained the last independent capital of Sri Lanka until the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, when it came under British rule in 1815. The seats of power then shifted to the coastal areas of Kotte and Colombo. However, it is still considered the religious and cultural center of the country, with numerous temples and monasteries, Buddhist colleges and beautiful parks and gardens.

The Lankatilaka Temple is known for its traditional Sinhalese architecture and was built in 1344 atop a rocky and uneven hilltop. The Embekke Devale, constructed in the 14th century, is famous for its wooden structure and beauti­ fully intricate wood-carvings. Another popular temple in Kandy is the Gadaladeniya Temple which was built in south Indian style.

Dumbulla

Although there are numerous cave temples in Sri Lanka. The ancient Rock temple a few kilometers south of the town of Dummbulla is its most famous and spectacular. The town is about 72 kilometers north of Kandy, and the temple is in a cave under a range of granite hillocks which rise 160 meters above surrounding plains.

It is behind that when king Vattagamini was feeling from his enemies in the first century BCE, he was sheltered by ascetic monks who lived in these caves. After remaining to power, he came back to build a large rock temple in gratitude to the monks. The caves were further enlarged by king Nissankamalla in the 12th century, with five temples built into them.

There are more than hundred statues of the Buddha within the temples, along with a few of kings and various deities. There are also murals on the walls depicting scenes from the Buddha’s life, some painted as recently as the 18th and 19th centuries’ and these cover an area of 2,100 square meters.

Aluviharaya Temple

Just 32 kilometers north of Kandy is a small cave temple highly significant to the history of Buddhism. During the 1st century BCE, the island was ravaged by anarchy and starvation, and the very survival of Buddhism was threatened. This was because at that time, its teachings were orally transmitted by monks, and many had died or left the island.

Some of the surviving monks then decided to commit the whole of the Tipitaka to writing. The Fourth Buddhist Council was convened and as a result, it was written down the first time in island's history. In this way, the teachings were preserved in its original form and Buddhism survived this difficult period. The momentous event was held at the Aluvihara Cave Temple, originally known as the Aloka Lena, or "Cave of Light".

The Second Ancient Capital Of Sri Lanka

Polonnaruwa

This city was the second ancient capital of Sri Lanka after Anuradhapura and is located about 100 kilometers to the south east. Its prominence as the capital lasted for about 300yers, during which a number of major Buddha structures were made but while they were built in later age, these structure were laser in size and magnificent to those of more ancient times. Nonetheless, most of these are beautiful and significant.

By the 13th century polonanruwa became increasingly vulnerable attacks on the north by Indian invaders, and almost destroyed by decades of invasions and civil wars. Subsequence king gradually shifted their capitals towards the south west and l Like Anuradhpura before it, Polonnaruwa was eventually abounded this ancient city is designated a world heritage site by UNSCO.

GalViharayaTemple

Some of the finest Buddha statutes’ in Sri Lanka is found in the gal Vihara temple, where four Buddha images are carved from the face of single granite rock. There is a very impressive 5 meter high seated image and next to it is similar but much smaller one in a recess. On a rock between the recess and the standing images an inscription describing Prakramabahu’s efforts to reform the Sangaha in 1165.

Next is a large standing image about 7 meters tall. Because of its unusual moment with its hands folded across its chest, some people believe that this image is last moment of the Buddha, but some people are trusted this image is Ananda , his personal attendant. At the end of the cliff is a massive reclining statue just over 14 meters long. This statue shows Buddha at rest as he enters in to final Nibbana (Parinirwanaya). The flow of the robes, the pillow and the feet of the statue are all exquisitely carved. The face also has a most peaceful smile.

Sri Lankan Ancient Ruins

The moonstone is an ancient feature of the Buddhist building of all historical periods. This is a semicircular piece of stone with beautifully carving which stood at the foot of a flight of steps in most Buddhist buildings. Although the moonstone is specifically semicircular, sometimes you can come across square moonstones. It is thought that the moon stones originated as blank square stone and later developed in to a semicircular shape. This again developed to include multitude of carved decorations in later stages. But the moonstones in the religious residence where the forest dwelling monks lived maintained the blank semicircular shape.

The design of the moonstone has undergone many changes over time, but the moonstones show the highest level of creativity towards the end of the Anuradhapura Era.

In most of the moonstones of Anuradhapura Era, the outer edge is designed with a ring of flames and below that is a ring filled with 4 types of animals – The elephant, the horse, the lion, and the bull chasing each other. Some moonstones show these beasts in their own semicircular band. The next is a semi-circle of a creeper with a wavy stem with foliage (“liyawela”). Next is a line of swans with a twig of flower and a leaf on their mouth. Next is again a floral pattern and at the center is lotus with petals all around the semi-circle on the moonstone.

Located in the Anuradhapura ancient city and origin of the kuttam-pokuna is not known but it is thought to have been built during the time period of King Aggobodhi I (575-608). The kuttam pokuna or twin ponds are other amazing engineering marvels of the ancient Sri Lanka. These twin ponds Consist to the Abayagiri armic complex and most probably it has been used by the bhikkhus for bathing.

These two ponds are connected through the pipeline at the bottom, as well as the Northern one is 91 feet or 28 meters long and other one is 132 feet or 40 meters. Water to kuttam-pokuna has been supplied through underground danged system and the water is sent through the several filtering systems before it falls on the northern pond through a mouth of a dragon. The water from both ponds is drained from a small outlet in the smaller northern pond.

Made in the 4th century and about 1.75 meters high, the Samadhi Buddha statue is one of the best examples of Sri Lankan sculpture. The statue shows the Buddha sitting cross-legged in a meditating, or 'Samadhi' posture. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, derived strength from looking at a picture of this statue during his imprisonment by the British.