This tour generally covers the whole Anuradhapura city.Anuradhapura contains some of the island’s most sacred Buddhist shrines and was established around a cutting from the fig tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. Tissa, grandson of the founder of Anuradhapura, became the island’s first Buddhist sovereign 2,400 years ago when Emperor Ashoka – Buddhist King of India – sent his son Mahinda to the nearby rocky summit of Mihintale to convert Tissa and his followers to Buddhism. Ashoka’s daughter Sanghamitta visited the city a little time later with the sacred fig tree cutting and started the order of Buddhist nuns. This cutting – the Sri Maha Bodhi – is Anuradhapura’s spiritual heart, and is thought to be one of the world’s oldest trees. Cuttings of this sacred ‘mother tree’ have been successfully planted in temples all over the island.

Highlight of the tour

• Visit Sri Mahabodiya
• Visit Ruwanwelisaya
• Visit Thuparamaya
• Visit Isurumuniya
• Visit Samadi Statue