Sri Lanka

The royal palace temple beside Kandy Lake in Sri Lanka enshrining the left canine tooth relic of Gautama Buddha, brought from India to the island in the 4th century CE by Princess Hemamala and Prince Dantha and revered as one of the holiest relics in Theravada Buddhism. Founded on the present site under King Vimaladharmasuriya I in the late 16th century and rebuilt in the 18th century, it forms the heart of the Sacred City of Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Sacred City of Kandy, 1988)Sri Dalada Veediya, Kandy 20000 (trong khu hoàng cung cũ, bên hồ Kandy)

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a documented planting date (288 BCE or 249 BCE), growing in the Mahamevnawa Royal Park of ancient Anuradhapura from the southern branch cutting of the original Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya (India) under which Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment, brought to Sri Lanka by the arahant nun Sanghamitta Theri (daughter of Emperor Ashoka) and planted by King Devanampiya Tissa. Revered atop a 6.5-meter elevated terrace enclosed by a golden railing (Ran Veta) and four lower terraces of guardian Bodhi trees (Parivara Bodhi), it forms the spiritual heart of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982)Vườn thượng uyển Mahamevnawa (Mahamewuna Uyana), khu Thành phố thiêng Anuradhapura, tỉnh Bắc Trung Bộ, Sri Lanka

Photo: Hirushini Dematagoda, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest and best-preserved Buddhist cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, perched high on a 160-meter granite outcrop in Dambulla (Matale District) and tracing its royal foundation to the 1st century BCE when King Valagamba (Vattagamani Abhaya) took refuge here for 14 years before reclaiming Anuradhapura and transforming the caverns into a rock monastery. Spanning five main sanctuary caves, it houses 153 Buddha statues (including a 14-meter rock-carved reclining Buddha in Cave 1, Devaraja Lena), three statues of Sri Lankan kings, four statues of deities, and 2,100 square meters of ceiling and wall murals, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991)Đồi đá Dambulla (Rangiri), đường Kandy đi Anuradhapura (A9), thị trấn Dambulla, huyện Matale, tỉnh Trung Bộ, Sri Lanka

Photo: Lankapic, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons

A conical sacred mountain rising 2,243 meters in the southern reaches of Sri Lanka's Central Highlands, crowned by a 1.8-meter footprint-shaped rock hollow (Sri Pada, the Sacred Footprint) venerated across four world religions: by Buddhists as the left footprint impressed by Gautama Buddha on his third visit to the island (recorded in the Mahavamsa chronicle), by Hindus as the footprint of Lord Shiva (Sivanolipatha Malai), and by Muslims and Christians as Adam's Peak (where Adam first stood upon Earth after leaving Eden). Its nocturnal pilgrimage climb up more than 5,500 steps runs from December full moon to the May Vesak festival within the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka UNESCO World Heritage Site (2010).

UNESCO World Heritage Site (2010)Khu bảo tồn hoang dã Peak Wilderness, giáp ranh huyện Ratnapura (tỉnh Sabaragamuwa) và huyện Nuwara Eliya (tỉnh Trung Bộ), Sri Lanka

Photo: Bourgeois, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The foremost Hindu spiritual center of the Tamil Saiva Siddhanta tradition in northern Sri Lanka at historic Nallur (Jaffna), dedicated to the god of war and wisdom Murugan (Skanda or Kartikeya) venerated in the form of the sacred spear (Vel) within the main sanctum. Originally founded in 948 CE by Minister Bhuvanekabahu and rebuilt on a royal scale in the 15th century under the Jaffna Kingdom of King Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan, the third temple was razed by Portuguese commander Filipe de Oliveira in 1624 before being re-established in 1734 on its present site by Don Juan Ragunatha Maapaana Mudaliyar, now crowned by four towering Dravidian Gopurams and renowned for its 25-day Nallur Mahotsavam festival.

Protected National Archaeological and Historical Monument of Sri LankaQuảng trường Point Pedro Road và Kovil Road, phường Nallur, thành phố Jaffna, Tỉnh Bắc, Sri Lanka

Photo: Gane Kumaraswamy, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

The most venerated hemispherical white stupa in Sri Lanka, rising 103 meters (338 feet) in the heart of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura. Initiated in 140 BCE by King Dutugemunu (r. 161 to 137 BCE) and completed by his brother King Saddhatissa to enshrine a full dona (the largest single surviving portion) of the bodily relics of Sakyamuni Buddha, the Great Stupa (Mahathupa) stands upon a wide granite-paved terrace supported by the famous Hathapada wall of 344 life-size sculpted elephants and forms the spiritual centerpiece of the Mahavihara monastery and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Anuradhapura.

Atamasthana (Eight Sacred Places of Anuradhapura) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, Ref. 200)Mahamevnawa Park, Sacred City of Anuradhapura, 50000 North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Viraj Tharinda, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The crowning masterpiece of classical Sinhalese rock-cut sculpture located in the northern precinct of the ancient capital of Polonnaruwa. Founded in the 12th century as the Uttararama (Northern Monastery) by King Parakramabahu I the Great (r. 1153 to 1186 CE), Gal Vihara features four monumental images of Sakyamuni Buddha carved directly into the face of a single long gneiss granite outcrop: two seated meditation figures (one inside the excavated Vidyadhara Guha cave), a deeply expressive 7-meter standing figure with arms folded across the chest, and a 14-meter reclining Buddha entering Parinibbana, alongside the historic Polonnaruwa Katikavata rock inscription.

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, Ref. 201)Northern Archaeological Precinct, Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, 51000 North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Detlef Hansen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The finest surviving circular relic house (Vatadage / Cetiya-ghara) of ancient Sri Lanka, occupying the southwestern corner of the elevated Sacred Quadrangle (Dalada Maluwa) in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Polonnaruwa. Built in the 12th century under Kings Parakramabahu I (r. 1153 to 1186 CE) and Nissanka Malla (r. 1187 to 1196 CE), the monument features two concentric circular stone terraces, four cardinal staircases graced by the finest moonstones (Sandakada Pahana) and Nagaraja guardstones (Muragala) of the Polonnaruwa era, a carved four-petalled floral stone screen wall, and four serene granite Buddha statues seated around a central brick stupa.

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, Ref. 201)Dalada Maluwa (Sacred Quadrangle), Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, 51000 North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Cherubino, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The sacred granite mountain peak rising 12 kilometers east of Anuradhapura, universally revered as the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Known in ancient Pali chronicles as Missaka Pabbata or Cetiyagiri, Mihintale is the historic site where Arahat Mahinda Thera, son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, met King Devanampiya Tissa on the full moon of Poson in 247 BCE, tested his intellect with the Mango Tree Riddle, and preached the Cula Hatthipadopama Sutta. Linked by 1,840 granite steps shaded by frangipani trees, the monastic complex encompasses the 9th-century Monastic Hospital, Kantaka Cetiya, Naga Pokuna, Ambasthala Dagaba, Aradhana Gala, and the summit stupa of Maha Seya.

Cradle of Sri Lankan Buddhism and National Archaeological SanctuaryMihintale Sacred Mountain, Mihintale 50300, Anuradhapura District, North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Hesandu Uyangoda, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The tallest stupa of the ancient world and the largest all-brick structure ever built in human history, rising in the Nandana Uyana park of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura. Initiated in the late 3rd century CE by King Mahasena (r. 276 to 303 CE) and completed by his son King Sirimeghavanna (r. 301 to 328 CE) to enshrine a piece of the sash or belt (Pati Dhatu) of Sakyamuni Buddha, Jetavanaramaya originally reached a height of 400 cubits (approximately 122 meters or 400 feet, the third tallest structure on Earth in antiquity after the two Great Pyramids of Giza) and comprises roughly 93.3 million baked bricks resting on bedrock foundations 8.5 meters deep.

Atamasthana (Eight Sacred Places of Anuradhapura) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, Ref. 200)Nandana Uyana, Sacred City of Anuradhapura, 50000 North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Nipuna Gamage, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A vast ancient Buddhist monastic university spanning more than 200 hectares (500 acres) in the northern sector of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura. Founded in 89 BCE by King Valagamba (Vattagamani Abhaya) and gifted to Elder Kupikkala Mahatissa Thera, Abhayagiri Vihara housed 5,000 resident monks at its zenith (as recorded by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian from 410 to 412 CE), studied Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana teachings side by side, and sent Sri Lankan bhikkhunis to Nanjing in 429 and 433 CE to establish the East Asian nuns' ordination lineage. Its grounds contain the 75-meter Abhayagiri Stupa, the famed Samadhi Buddha statue, the Kuttam Pokuna Twin Ponds, the Ratnaprasada guardstone, and Sri Lanka's finest moonstones.

Atamasthana (Eight Sacred Places of Anuradhapura) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, Ref. 200)Abhayagiri Monastic Complex, Sacred City of Anuradhapura, 50000 North Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Iuherath, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A classical Hindu Shaiva pilgrimage sanctuary perched dramatically atop Swami Rock (Kona-ma-malai), a 130-meter (400-foot) sheer cliff promontory jutting into the Indian Ocean at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. Celebrated in 7th-century Tamil Tevaram hymns by Saint Tirugnana Sambandar as Dakshina Kailasam (Kailash of the South) and revered as the eastern guardian among Sri Lanka's five ancient coastal Pancha Ishwarams, the medieval Temple of a Thousand Pillars was destroyed in 1624; after its sacred Swayambhu Lingam and 10th-century Chola bronzes were recovered from the seabed and earth in 1950, the temple was rebuilt on the cliff summit between 1952 and 1963.

One of the Five Ancient Pancha Ishwarams of Sri Lanka and Canonical Paadal Petra SthalamSwami Rock, Fort Frederick, Koneswaram Road, Trincomalee 31000, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Ceylon Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of South Asia's most remarkable multi-religious pilgrimage sanctuaries, situated on the banks of the sacred Menik Ganga (Gem River) in southeastern Sri Lanka's Uva Province. Venerated simultaneously by Hindu Tamils (as Kathirkamam, the abode of Lord Murugan / Skanda and his indigenous consort Valli Amma), Sinhala Buddhists (as the seat of the guardian deity Kataragama Deviyo endowed by King Dutugemunu in the 2nd century BCE alongside the ancient Kiri Vehera stupa), the indigenous Vedda forest people, and Sufi Muslims (at the adjacent Khizr Mosque), the sanctuary is famed for its aniconic inner sanctum housing a six-pointed golden Yantra behind seven painted curtains, the 45-day Pada Yatra foot pilgrimage, and the Esala Perahera festival.

Premier Multi-Religious National Pilgrimage Sanctuary of Sri Lanka and Sacred Heritage PrecinctRuhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya, Kataragama 91400, Monaragala District, Uva Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Surangi Kasturirathne, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

An iconic Indo-Saracenic congregational mosque rising at the corner of Second Cross Street and Bankshall Street in historic Pettah, Colombo, commissioned in 1908 by South Indian Muslim merchants and completed in 1909 by local self-taught master builder Habibu Labbe Saibu Labbe. Celebrated worldwide for its striking red-and-white candy-striped brickwork arranged in horizontal, vertical, spiral, and jagged checkerboard patterns and crowned with distinctive pomegranate-shaped domes, the Red Mosque served for decades as the primary maritime landmark for sailors approaching the Port of Colombo and was expanded in 1975 to accommodate 10,000 worshippers.

Historic Architectural Landmark of Pettah and Premier Congregational Mosque of Colombo (Completed 1909)228 Second Cross Street, Pettah, Colombo 01100, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Sri Lanka's National Catholic Basilica set amidst a tranquil fifty-acre wooded hill estate in Tewatte, Ragama (Gampaha District), originating from a 1911 Lourdes chapel and built between 1950 and 1974 by Thomas Cardinal Cooray OMI in fulfillment of Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson's solemn vow of May 26, 1940 praying that the island be spared invasion during World War II. Elevated to a Minor Basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1973, the sanctuary is an architectural masterpiece of cultural synthesis, blending a Christian basilica layout and triple domes with sixty-four carved granite pillars modeled on ancient Sinhalese royal palaces of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

National Basilica of Sri Lanka and Minor Basilica (Elevated by Pope Paul VI in 1973)Basilica Road, Tewatte, Ragama 11010, Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Michael Shehan Obeysekera from Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the sixteen most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites (Solosmasthana) of Sri Lanka, situated on the northern bank of the Kelani River just ten kilometers east of Colombo, where the ancient chronicle Mahavamsa records that Gautama Buddha preached the Dharma seated upon a gem-studded throne in the eighth year after his Enlightenment at the invitation of the Naga King Maniakkika. Rebuilt in 1767 under King Kirti Sri Rajasinha and magnificently restored between 1927 and 1946 by philanthropist Helena Wijewardene, the temple is celebrated for its paddy-heap-shaped white stupa, the iconic twentieth-century historical murals by master painter Solias Mendis, and the grand January Duruthu Perahera procession.

Solosmasthana Sacred Site (One of the 16 Holiest Buddhist Sites in Sri Lanka) and Archaeological MonumentBiyagama Road, Kelaniya 11600, Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Colombo's most vibrant and influential Theravada Buddhist monastic complex, founded in the late nineteenth century (around 1885) at Hunupitiya by the pioneering revivalist scholar-monk Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera and his disciple Venerable Devundara Sri Jinaratana. Uniting an eclectic main monastery that enshrines the sacred Hair Relic of the Buddha and thousands of Asian Buddhist artifacts with the tranquil floating ordination hall of Seema Malaka on Beira Lake (redesigned in 1976 by master architect Geoffrey Bawa), Gangaramaya hosts Colombo's grand February Navam Perahera elephant pageant and extensive vocational education charities.

Premier Theravada Buddhist Monastery, Museum, and Floating Ordination Sanctuary of Colombo (Founded c. 1885)61 Sri Jinaratana Road, Hunupitiya, Colombo 00200, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the two foundational monastic academies (Pirivenas) that spearheaded the nineteenth-century Sri Lankan Buddhist Revival, founded on November 1, 1875, at Peliyagoda, Kelaniya, by the eminent scholar-monk Venerable Ratmalane Sri Dharmaloka Maha Thera and his illustrious disciple Venerable Ratmalane Sri Dharmarama Nayaka Thera. Renowned worldwide for reviving Pali, Sanskrit, and Tipitaka textual scholarship and nurturing global figures such as Venerable Dr. Walpola Rahula and Indian scholar Rahula Sankrityayana, its higher-education wing was elevated in 1959 to become Vidyalankara University (now the University of Kelaniya), while the historic Peliyagoda monastery remains a premier center of Buddhist learning.

Historic Monastic Academy of the 19th-Century Buddhist Revival and Mother Institution of the University of Kelaniya (Founded 1875)Kandy Road, Peliyagoda, Kelaniya 11830, Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Sandunruki at English Wikipedia, Phạm vi công cộng, Wikimedia Commons

A sacred complex of thirteen natural granite boulder caves nestled in the foothills of Matale (thirty kilometers north of Kandy along the A9 Highway), revered worldwide as the historic birthplace of the written Pali Canon. Here, in the first century BCE during the reign of King Valagamba following a twelve-year famine, five hundred Arahant elders of the Mahavihara lineage convened for the Fourth Theravada Buddhist Council to commit the entire Pali Tipitaka (Vinaya, Sutta, and Abhidhamma) from oral recitation to writing on treated talipot palm leaves (ola leaves) for the first time in human history.

National Archaeological Monument of Sri Lanka and Historic Birthplace of the Written Pali Tipitaka (1st Century BCE)Matale - Dambulla Highway (A9), Aluvihare, Matale 21000, Central Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A venerated National Shrine of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka located near the Port of Colombo in Kochchikade (Kotahena, Colombo 13), tracing its origins to the eighteenth-century clandestine ministry of the Goan Oratorian missionary Father Antonio, whose prayers to Saint Anthony of Padua calmed coastal erosion threatening the fishing village. Enshrining a miraculous wooden statue of Saint Anthony brought from Goa in 1806 and a sacred relic of the saint within a grand Neo-Classical basilica completed in 1940, the shrine is celebrated across Sri Lanka as a beacon of interfaith harmony where Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims pray side by side every Tuesday and during the June 13 feast.

National Shrine of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and Historic Center of Interfaith Devotion in ColomboSt. Anthony's Mawatha, Kochchikade, Kotahena, Colombo 01300, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Photo: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons