Anuradhapura,one of the greastest centers of the ancient buddhist world ,was the first royal capital of the island kindom . It remained so far fifteen centuries unti its fall in the tenth century CE. like the cities of Athens and Rome ,it flourished in majesty and grandeur. Sinhala ambassadors were in the cout of Rome specilly during the regin of Agustus Caesar. Roman coins have been discovere in Anuradhapura Kings,monks, engineers, sculptors and peopal have left behind in the city the largest collection of Buddhist monuments in the island . Even today, apart of the city is marked off as the Sacred City(puja nagaraya)These monuments include the three tallest brick buildings of the OLD WOLD,namely,the stupas named JETAVANAYA(400ft),ABHAYAGIRI(370ft) and RUWANVALI(30ft) and the oldest historical three in the modern world,the BODHI tree. All these monument are not merely things of the past but sacred sites venerated by the faithful even to day In that sense, Anuradhapura is not 'lost city' or a 'buried city' but one that still abounds with lifeAnuradhapura is today the capital of the North Western province,one of the mine province of modern Sri lanka.It lies 205k.m. from colombo ,and can be reached in a matter of four hours either through Kurunegala or through Chilaw and puttalama.

The founder of the city of Anuradhapura was King PANDUKABHAYA,thefourth king of the island. like all great capital of the ancient world ,it was buit on the bank of a river,KADAMBA NADI,known today as MAL-VATHUOYA,the River by Flower Garden, which flows by the royal park ,the MAHA MEGA-VANA,the park of the great Rain-Coud.
It was originally built on the site of the village of Anuradha; the one ,a minister of VIJAYA, the first king of the island,and the other, a brother of princess BHADDAKACCANA, who was the wife of PANDUVASUDEVA, the second king It is aslo belived that it was founded under the constellation ,Anuradha.The Greek geography PTOLEMY ,who produced the earliest map of the island in the first century CE,marked this city as 'ANUROGRAMMON'

It was one of the well-laid out cities of the ancient world,spread over an area of forty square meters. It had two main sectors: the inner citadel which housed the royal palace , and the outer citadel,the sacred city,which housed the monasteries(vihara0 and their integral components such as stupas, image-houses and dining halls. This booklet describe in brief the grandeur that was and the wonder that is Auradhapura,the holiest pilgrim centre of the island.