A Tree Planted in 288 BC Is Still the Main Attraction

Guinness World Records recognizes the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura as the oldest tree on the planet with a documented history of human planting. Not the oldest tree, full stop, some bristlecone pines beat it by thousands of years, but the oldest one we can prove a person put in the ground on a specific date. A nun named Sanghamitta, daughter of the Indian emperor Ashoka, carried the sapling from Bodh Gaya in 288 BC, and King Devanampiya Tissa planted it on a terraced platform where it still grows today, ringed by four lower terraces of protective Bo trees and off-limits above a certain point to keep pilgrims from loving it to death. That single tree has outlasted the empire that planted it, several invading South Indian dynasties, and roughly 2,300 years of Sri Lankan history, which tells you something about why Anuradhapura still pulls in millions of Buddhist pilgrims a year despite the ruins around it being, well, ruins.

Getting the History Straight

One correction worth making up front, since a lot of casual guides get this backwards: Anuradhapura wasn’t founded by King Pandukabhaya as a brand-new settlement. A minister named Anuradha had already established a village on the site generations earlier, naming it after himself. Pandukabhaya, ruling from roughly 437 BC according to the ancient Mahavamsa chronicle, expanded that village into a proper administrative center around 377 BC and made it his capital, building irrigation tanks, cemeteries, and shelters for the poor as part of a genuinely early piece of urban planning. From there it held the title of Sri Lanka’s capital for over a thousand years, with a single notable exception: King Kashyapa I relocated the seat of power to the rock fortress of Sigiriya for a few decades in the 5th century AD before it reverted to Anuradhapura.

Getting There and Getting Around

Anuradhapura sits about 200 kilometers north of Colombo, reachable by direct train or by intercity bus, both running several times daily and taking roughly four to five hours depending on service. The train station sits close enough to the town center that budget guesthouses within walking distance routinely rent out bicycles, and bicycle is genuinely the right way to cover the sacred city, since the archaeological zone sprawls across a wide, flat area better suited to two wheels than to walking in the heat. If your schedule is tight or you’re visiting solo without a rented bike, hiring a tuk-tuk for a half or full day covers the distances between the major stupas without the fatigue.

What the Ticket Actually Covers

As of 2026 the Anuradhapura Sacred City ticket runs in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 US dollars for foreign visitors, purchased at the ticket office near the Archaeological Museum or in advance online, and it covers entry to the major stupa sites including Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya, Abhayagiri, and Thuparamaya. What it does not cover, and this trips people up, is the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi itself or the Isurumuniya rock temple, both of which charge small separate entry fees on top of the main ticket. Budget for those extras rather than being surprised at the gate. Sites generally run from early morning until early evening, and the archaeological zone is large enough that trying to see everything in one visit leaves you rushing past details that deserve more time, particularly the carved moonstones and guardstones at the monastery entrances, which are some of the finest surviving examples of Anuradhapura-period stone carving and are easy to walk right past if you don’t know to look down at your feet.

When to Go and What to Skip

December through April brings the driest, most comfortable weather for a site with almost no natural shade across long stretches of the archaeological zone, though it’s also when tour buses are thickest around the big stupas mid-morning. Arriving at opening time, before the heat and the crowds build, is a genuinely different experience from a midday visit. If you’ve already budgeted a day for Anuradhapura and have another to spare, I’d actually send first-time visitors to nearby Mihintale before the main city rather than after: it’s the hill where Buddhism was formally introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC, it’s far less crowded, and seeing it first gives real context to everything you’ll walk through in Anuradhapura’s stupas afterward.

Dress rules are strict and enforced, not suggested: shoulders and knees covered at every religious site, shoes off before stepping onto stupa platforms, and hats removed as a matter of basic respect even in blazing sun. Keep socks in your daypack, since the stone platforms around Ruwanwelisaya get uncomfortably hot by midday for bare feet.