Sri Lanka part 3 - Anuradhapura

eikin · 4th February 2005

Anuradhapura is the spiritual centre of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism. The largest and one of the earliest ancient capital (of Sri Lanka and perhaps even the world) dating back to 437BC, Anuradhapura had over 10,000 practising Buddhist monks at it's peak of development in 20 over large monasteries. A Chinese monk, Fa Hien (Fa3 Xian3) visited the city during 5th century AD and left in writing the most complete record of the city in words, the archaeological department of Sri Lanka is working on the restoration of the ancient city ruins based on Fa Hien's writings.

the ancient pedestal leading to the Bo tree (believed to be the scion of the Bodhi tree in Bodhigaya where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.)

practising Sangha

path to the largest Dagoba (Stupa) in Anuradhapura

the extremely large Dagoba (about the size of the 3rd largest pyramid of Giza) constructed entirely of mud-bricks (grainy picture from scanning of negatives)

restoration works in progress (grainy picture from scanning of negatives)

eikin · 4th February 2005

one more picture on the restoration works ...

the men seem to be taking a break while the women dig away the thick layer of mud and sand covering the original Dagoba structure

4th February 2005	#1
eikin Moderator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: 東京 Tokyo Posts: 10,920	Sri Lanka part 3 - Anuradhapura Anuradhapura is the spiritual centre of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism. The largest and one of the earliest ancient capital (of Sri Lanka and perhaps even the world) dating back to 437BC, Anuradhapura had over 10,000 practising Buddhist monks at it's peak of development in 20 over large monasteries. A Chinese monk, Fa Hien (Fa3 Xian3) visited the city during 5th century AD and left in writing the most complete record of the city in words, the archaeological department of Sri Lanka is working on the restoration of the ancient city ruins based on Fa Hien's writings. the ancient pedestal leading to the Bo tree (believed to be the scion of the Bodhi tree in Bodhigaya where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.) practising Sangha path to the largest Dagoba (Stupa) in Anuradhapura the extremely large Dagoba (about the size of the 3rd largest pyramid of Giza) constructed entirely of mud-bricks (grainy picture from scanning of negatives) restoration works in progress (grainy picture from scanning of negatives) __________________ APAD Last edited by eikin; 4th February 2005 at 11:56 PM.

4th February 2005	#2
eikin Moderator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: 東京 Tokyo Posts: 10,920	one more picture on the restoration works ... the men seem to be taking a break while the women dig away the thick layer of mud and sand covering the original Dagoba structure __________________ APAD