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them. The monks, disgusted at this invasion
of a sacred place, departed en masse. The
general populace, equally disgusted, besieged
the Ratnaprasada, captured and executed the
king’s supporters and forced the king to apol-
ogise to the departed monks in order to bring
the monks back to the city and restore peace.
To the south of the Ratnaprasada is the
Lankarama, a 1st-century-BC vatadage.
Abhayagiri Museum MUSEUM
(h10am-5pm) F The Chinese-funded
Abhayagiri Museum, just south of the
Abhayagiri Dagoba, commemorates the
5th-century visit of Chinese Buddhist monk
Faxian to Anuradhapura. Faxian spent some
time living at the Abhayagiri monastery
translating Buddhist texts, which he later
brought back to China. The museum, argu-
ably the most interesting in Anuradhapura,
contains a collection of squatting plates,
jewellery, pottery and religious sculpture
from the site. There’s a lot of information (in
English and Sinhala) about the many mon-
uments of Anuradhapura and a bookshop.
Samadhi Buddha MoNUMENt
This 4th-century statue, seated in the med-
itation pose, is regarded as one of the finest
Buddha statues in Sri Lanka. Pandit Nehru,
a prominent leader in India’s independence
movement, is said to have maintained his
composure, while imprisoned by the British,
by regular contemplation of a photo of this
statue.
Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Ponds) w AtEr FEAtUrE
These swimming-pool-like ponds were likely
used by monks from the monastery attached
to Abhayagiri Dagoba. Water entered the
larger pond through the mouth of a makara
(mythical multispecies beast) and then flowed
to the smaller pond through an underground
pipe. Note the five-headed cobra figure close
to the makara and the water-filter system at
the northwestern end of the ponds.
Although they are referred to as twins,
the southern pond, which is 28m in length,
is smaller than the 40m-long northern pond.
Eth Pokuna (Elephant Pond) w AtEr FEAtUrE
Surrounded by jungle, the magnificent eth
pokuna (elephant pond) is thought to be an
ancient water storage pool for the Abhayagiri
monastery, rather than a swimming pool for
pachyderms. However such is its scale – 159m
long, 53m wide and 10m deep – a whole herd
could undoubtedly bathe here.
Underground channels from the Periyam-
kulama Tank keep the pond topped up, and
are still in working order – during very heavy
rains water pours into the pond from inlets.
1 Citadel
Time has not been kind to the Citadel and its
once-great walls have almost entirely been re-
absorbed by the earth.
Royal Palace rUIN
Built in 1070 (some 12 centuries after
Anuradhapura’s fall) this palace was an at-
tempt by King Vijayabahu I to link his reign
with the glories of the ancient Sinhalese
capital. Little remains today except two fine
guardstones.
Mahapali Refectory rUIN
The Mahapali refectory is notable for its im-
mense trough (nearly 3m long and 2m wide)
that the lay followers filled with rice for the
monks.
Dalada Maligawa rUIN
In the Royal Palace area you can also find the
Dalada Maligawa, a temple that may have
been the first Temple of the Tooth. The sacred
Buddha’s tooth originally came to Sri Lanka
in AD 313.
1 Jetavanarama
Jetavanarama Dagoba BUDDHISt
The Jetavanarama Dagoba’s massive dome
rises above the entire eastern part of
Anuradhapura. Built in the 3rd century by
Mahasena, it may have originally topped
120m, but today is about 70m – similar to the
Abhayagiri. When it was built it was almost
certainly the third-tallest monument in the
world, the first two being Egyptian pyramids.
Its vast, bulbous form is unplastered and
said to consist of more than 90 million bricks.
A British guidebook from the early 1900s
calculated that Jetavanarama contained
enough bricks to make a 3m-high wall
stretching from London to Edinburgh.
Behind it stand the ruins of a monastery
that housed 3000 monks. One building has
door jambs over 8m high still standing, with
another 3m underground.
Jetavanarama Museum MUSEUM
(h8.30am-5.30pm) A 1937 British colonial
building provides a suitably regal venue for
some of the treasures found at Jetavanarama.
The objects displayed here show great artisan-
ship and detail. Look for the elaborate carved