As a cultural worker, hunting for World Heritage Sites has gone beyond just seeing sites. Rather, it has become more of experiencing them. Hence, in the Anuradhapura vs Polonnaruwa debate, clearly, I would have to give it to the former. The first capital of Sri Lanka remains very much alive today, attracting more devoted pilgrims than actual tourists. While most of the key monuments here are dagobas (local term for stupa), and the variety of architecture is not as diverse as that of Polonnaruwa's, there is a great amount of history in each of them that have been made more special by the reverence that the people continuously attach to them up to these days. In fact, the age of the original monuments here would rival those Buddhist monuments in India, which was really surprising to find out. Not only were they some of the tallest monuments ever seen in the ancient world, but they also stand as pillars as to why Anuradhapura is titled as a "Sacred City", and not just an "Ancient City" as in the case of Polonnaruwa and even Sigiriya. There are two other sacred cities in Sri Lanka which we were also fortunate to see: the Sacred City of Kandy -- also a WHS -- and the Sacred City of Tissamaharama. 

In Anuradhapura, the Sri Jaya Mahabodhi tree is the most sacred element of the city and it sits right at the center. From there, the glaringly white Ruwanwelisaya dagoba is a short walk away, passing by the Mahalohapaya ruins. Currently, it stands as the tallest dagoba in the country after the finial of the more massive, red-brick Jetavana dagoba broke off.

To see the rest, it was, however, wise to hire a tuk-tuk. As a place mostly composed of dagobas, Anuradhapura is perhaps the best place to study this architectural style -- from the ruined remains of the Dakhina dagoba to the carefully restored Mirisawetiya dagoba nearby, from the vatadage-styled Thuparamaya (the oldest and one of the smallest) to the ongoing construction of the modern Victory stupa, which will be the tallest once it will be finished. 

We also managed to visit some of the farthest sites such as the Isurumuniya vihara, which requires a separate entrance fee. This vihara is considered as the oldest monastery in the city and we enjoyed talking to one of the resident monks there about the history of the site. He even kindly tied pirith nulas around our wrists, and I was able to record on video the chanting performed along with it. Half a mile away is the Vessagiri, a rock shelter for monks that features Brahmi inscriptions and faint traces of ancient frescoes that will only make sense with a guide's help.

A pleasant bonus was when our driver also took us inside the ancient citadel to check a few ruins including that of the Dalada Maligawa, the former shrine housing the sacred tooth relic. That time, there was a local herbalist who was gathering various plants for his concoctions. The photo I took of him while doing his thing is probably one of my favorite shots.  

It took us a little less than 6 hours to see most of the sites included in this World Heritage Site, and I cannot say I was not impressed. From Dambulla, which is a good base, Anuradhapura is 1.5 hours away via bus and is totally doable as a day trip.