1944 SRI LANKA - Avalokiteswara Bodhisathwa Statue from Veheragala

Located a few kilometers east of Mihintale, the temple and monastery Sirisangabo Raja Maha Vihara in Veheragala is famous as a location of several extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist statues from the late Anuradhapura era, which today are among the showpieces of the National Museum of Sri Lanka in Colombo. A special feature of these figures is that they represent forms of Mahayana Buddhism, which actually applies to Sri Lanka as frowned upon as a deviation from the original form of the religion.

1562 SRI LANKA - Yapahuwa

Yapahuwa was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka, in the latter part of the 13th century. Built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost 100m above the surrounding lowlands, at midway between Kurunagala and Anuradhapura, the citadel of Yapahuwa has a strong resemblance to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress. In 1272, King Bhuvenakabahu transferred the capital from Polonnaruwa to Yapahuwa in the face of Dravidian invasions from South India.

1548 SRI LANKA - Buduruvagala

Buduruvagala - Stone carvings of Maitreya, Vajrapani
and an unidentified Bodhisattva

 

Buduruwagala is an ancient buddhist temple, which consists of seven statues carved on the eastern side of an impressive cliff, belonging to the Mahayana school. Its name is derived from the words for Buddha (Budu), images (ruva) and stone (gala). The statues date back to the 10th century, but nothing is known about their history or why someone would choose to make such huge images in such a remote place. The largest of them, a Buddha with the right hand in the gesture of fearlessness, has 16m from head to toe, being the largest standing Buddha statue of the island.

1444, 1514 SRI LANKA - Golden Temple of Dambulla (UNESCO WHS)

1444 Golden Temple of Dambulla - Maha Raja Vihara

Posted on 07.02.2015, 06.04.2015
Situated in the central part of the country, Golden Temple of Dambulla, also known as Dambulla Cave Temple, is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. There are more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding area, and the rock towers 160m over the surrounding plains. This temple complex dates back to the 1st century BC, but prehistoric Sri Lankans would have lived in these cave complexes before the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as there are burial sites about 2700 years old in this area.

1514 Golden Temple of Dambulla - The Golden Buddha statue

The larger site incorporates a set of individual units reflecting all phases of site development from the megalithic period to the present day, including a monastic chapter house, bo-tree temple, dagoba and the earliest known village in Sri Lanka. Those are located within a site of considerable natural beauty and power. The complex has five caves under a vast overhanging rock, carved with a drip line to keep the interiors dry. In 1938 the architecture was embellished with arched colonnades and gabled entrances. 

1427 SRI LANKA - Mihintale, the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka

The peak Mihintale (the plateau of Mihindu), located near the city of Anuradhapura, is the site of several religious monuments and abandoned structures, but also a pilgrimage site, because it is believed by Sri Lankans to be the place of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda (the son of Emperor Ashoka of India) and King Devanampiyatissa, which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in the island. Its various shrines are connected by a total of some 1,840 steps, built in the reign of Bhathika Abhaya (22BC-7AD), that ultimately lead to the summit, steep enough to require deep breaths and a meditative pace.

0353, 1373 SRI LANKA - Ancient City of Sigiriya (UNESCO WHS)

0353 Sigiriya frescoes

Posted on 06.10.2012, 23.12.2014
In the heart of the island Sri Lanka, dominating the surrounding jungle, rises approximately 370m Sigiriya (Lion's rock), sheer on all sides, in many places overhanging the base, elliptical in plan and with a flat top, which is gradually sloped along the long axis of the ellipse. Buddhist monastic settlements were established during the 3rd century BCE in the western and northern slopes. The rock was used as monastery since the 5th century BC, with caves prepared by devotees of the Buddhist Sangha.

1373 Lion's paw of Sigiriya rock

According to Mahavamsa, during King Kashyapa's reign (477-495 AD) Sigiriya developed into a complex city and fortress, being considered one of the most important urban planning sites of the first millennium, very elaborate and imaginative. There was a sculpted lion's head above the legs and paws flanking the entrance, but the head collapsed years ago. The poem recounts that Dhatusena, the unifier of the country and the first king of the Moriyan dynasty, had two sons, Moggallana, the son of the royal consort, and Kashyapa, born to a non-royal concubine.

0275 SRI LANKA - Ancient City of Polonnaruwa (UNESCO WHS)

With more than 500 years before the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka, the Chola invaded the island and put an end to the two great dynasties, the Moriya and the Lambakanna. But in 1055, a prince only 15 years old, named Kitti, became king of Ruhuna,  take the name Vijayabahu, and began the war against invaders, that after 17 years he will be able to displace, reuniting the country for the first time in over a century, and moving the capital to Polonnaruwa (216 km from today Colombo).

0188 SRI LANKA - Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (UNESCO WHS)

On 15 November 1505, few ships under the command of Don Lourenço de Almeida, deviated on their way to the Maldive Islands, sought sanctuary in a little bay on the west coast of an island located to the south-east of India and separated from it only by a chain of reefs and sand-banks. The Portuguese's arrival will change the course of the island’s history as few events have done before, or since.