RUWANVELISEYA STUPA

It is the largest stupa in Anuradhapura. It was built in the 2nd century BC by Dutugemunu. Dutugemunu died with the assurance that his work, all white, was finished. In fact, his brother had a white cloth stretched over bamboo in place of the last stones: the illusion for the dying man was complete. Today, visitors can admire a stupa 103 meters high and 290 meters in circumference that survived the destruction of the invaders from South India. It is one of the 16 places of veneration of the sacred city and is still an essential site of Sri Lankan Buddhism.

The earthworks began on a Poya day in the month of Vesak. The ground was first leveled before being dug. Warriors brought stones which were then crushed by an army of elephants. The foundations consist of a complex amalgam of different elements: clay coming from the Himalayas covers the bed of crushed stones, then comes a layer of bricks covered with plaster, then a bed of quartz covered with iron, a new layer of clay on which rests white stones, themselves covered with rock crystal which accommodates stone plates. These plates are solidified by a mixture of mercury, resin and clay, then covered with bronze sheets of 2.5 meters thick. A final layer of silver sheets 1.2 meters thick completes the foundations. The foundation stone of the building was also laid on a Poya day.