Joanna James
If you are going to Sri Lanka anytime soon and want to explore the central part of the country which has most of the heritage and historical attractions, read on.
The Sigiriya is not quite Anuradhapura, but it is the highlight of the country when it comes to historical attractions and nobody can visit Sri Lanka and leave without climbing up The Sigiriya Rock. If you plan well and head out early, you can climb the rock, climb back down and head back to your room for dinner.
If you want to cover most of the top places in and around Anuradhapura, the best thing to do would be to stay at one of the Anuradhapura luxury resorts the likes of Uga Ulagalla and travel to a site every day. If you dedicate a day each for the places that are about an hour or two away, you will be fine.
Technically this is an artificial reservoir and it is a beautiful place to stop by on your way back to your hotel after exploring some parts of Anuradhapura. If you get there by sunset you can see two beautiful stupas far off in the distance. During the evenings, you will find a hoard of the locals bathing and washing their clothes here too.
This is one of the most wonderful architectural sites you will see in Anuradhapura and was built by King Dutugemunu. For Buddhists all over the world, this is known to be one of the most religious and sacred areas too. This is the oldest such architectural building in the country and was restored in the early 20th century to be the blinding white colour it is now.
You will find ruins of a temple that was built back in the 1st century BC and back then, it was one of the greatest structures of the ancient world. The only thing that's good enough to equate itself to this structure back then, were the pyramids of Giza. Right now this moonstone structure is about 75 m above the forest floor. This is one of the best things to see in Anuradhapura because it just awes you and makes you stop in your tracks and stare at it in wonder.
This is quite an engineering marvel that belongs to the ancient era of Sri Lanka. The place used to be frequently visited by monks for bathing. The origins of these twin ponds are unknown but people say that it was built during the years 500 to 600 BC.
Yet another sacred place for Buddhists in the world, the bodhi tree growing in the middle of the temple is what makes this place so special. You can visit this place any time of the year, and if you are lucky, you will go there on a full moon evening and see the rituals formed by the natives and the monks in Anuradhapura.
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