Our first stop was the Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba (aka The Great Stupa).
There were military police guarding the entrance and everyone had to be body-searched. However, the policemen showed far more interest in our straw-hats. These were the hats which Sheung and Sam bought in Indonesia during the Borobudur trip. These hats would attract constant attention through the trip and we received many offers for them. Not only did they serve as well as shelter from the hot sun, they were great ice-breakers as well.
In preparation for Vesak, the base of the stupa was wrapped in brightly color Buddhist flags. Workers were perched on ladders, add a new coat of whitewash to the stupa. Around the stupa, pilgrims in white circumambulated the stupa or sit in quiet prayers.
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the temple. There was temple by the stupa enshrined with a reclining Buddha. This was one of the few temples in which the caretaker or monk did not demand a "donation" and I gladly offered some money. The temple had a row of standing Buddhas outside, and wall paintings relating to the building of the stupa.
From The Great Stupa, we walked towards Sri Maha Bodhi. The Bodhi tree here was grown from a cutting taken from the original tree at Bodhgaya under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. Hence it was extremely sacred. But for the religious significance, there was nothing really special about the tree -- it looked like any other Bodhi tree.
From Sri Maha Bodhi, we decided to walk to the Archelogical Museum. It turned out to be a mistake as it was a lot further than we made out to be on the map, and it was simply draining under the heat. The museum was badly maintained. The exhibits were in disarray and some were even missing. It was just a waste of time. We bought our Cultural Triangle pass here and found that the price had gone up. It was now US$50 or Rs5900 (was US$40/Rs4000).
We picked up our bicycle and then drop by Monastry C before getting to Thuparama Dagoba.
Thuparama Dagoba is the oldest dagoba Sri Lanka. Its unique feature are the pillars surrounding the stupa.
It was pass noon when we got to the stupa and it was deserted. I quickly found out why as I set feet on the baking stones. I ran around the stupa and then hid in the shade of a tent, silently thankful that we had visited the Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba early in the morning. The base of Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba was many times bigger than that of Thuparama. It would be impossible to go around that big dagoba barefeet without getting blisters. Already, I was getting some blisters under my right feet.
The heat and the hot stones made it difficult to enjoy the Dagoba.
To escape the heat, we decide to head to the Abhayagri Museum (aka Fa Hsien Museum). This museum is better maintained than the Archaeological Museum and is worth a visit. The area within the Abhayagri monastry is forested and shady, which provide a nice respite from the heat. Here we found another hospital ruins which had a medical bath. From the Abhayagri Dagoba, we went on to look for the moonstones, guardstones and urinal stones.
First, we found what was touted as the finest moonstone in Sri Lanka at Mahasena's palace. (A "moonstone" is a semi circular stone with intricate carvings placed at the foot of a flight of stairs).
Then, we found what was proclaimed as the most beautiful guardstone at Ratnaprasada (Guardstones comes in pairs. It a statue of a naga king, found at both sides of a stairway.) Actually, I thought those guardstones at Polonnaruwa were just as fine as well.
Then we cycled more than 1 km west to the western monastries to look for the finely carved urinal stones. The western monastries were actually a scatter of several ruins. We finally found the urinal stone at monastary I.
The road to the monastary is actually a nice road cutting through padi fields and a big marshy lake. The huge dagobas can be seen in the distance. En route, we got popsicles from a passing vendor for Rs10 each. (By now, I was ignoring the advice by guidebooks not to take ice and only to drink boiled water. I had been drinking water from the taps provided for pilgrims at the temples anyway.)
The straps of my slippers came off at the monastry I and Sheung attached it back with some cable ties (tip for backpackers: cable ties are very versatile and useful!)
Satisfied with the success of our quest for the stones, it was time to look for the Samadhi Buddha. According to Ven Dhammika, "until recently, this image was surrounded by trees and covered with fallen leaves and moss and the occasional monkey would amble up and sit in its lap. It used to be a wonderful experience to encounter this image while walking through the silent forest. Now the sylvan environment has been destroyed by ugly and inappropriate buildings."
I would agree with Ven Dhammika's comments. The image is much weathered and not particularly impressive aesthically. However, it is still a nice encounter because what Anuradhapura offers are mainly stupas. There are few Buddha images, other than some broken images in the museums, and the modern ones in the temples with (as Lonely Planets put it) "technicolor disco lights".
The Twin Ponds (aka Kuttam Pokuna) is the most impressive of the baths we came across. There were nice steps, spouts, naga stones etc. The green water looks absolutely toxic but provided nice constrast against the stones for some photographic moments.
Light was fading away when we reached the Jetavanarama Dagoba. This was an impressive structure. At the time it was built, it was the third tallest monument in the world, after the Egyptian pyramids. We were the only ones at the Dagoba. The stone had cooled off considerably and it was a nice walk around the dagoba in the twilight.
As we were finding our way to the main road from the dagoba, we then noticed the bats flying over head silently. They were very graceful, gliding slowly in the air above us, nothing like the hurried scary flutter in the horror movies. It was a beautiful encounter.
I had wanted to head back to the Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba to see it at night. But I quickly recognised the folly. It was now dark and the road was not lit. I could hardly see the road itself and could not see any pot holes at all. We had a bit of problem finding our way too. In the end, we did make it back safely.
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