A view of the Abayagiriya Stupa just before sunset

All Photo Credit go to T. Perera

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Anuradhapura with some of my friends. The journey was quite comfortable on the train, but the environment in Anuradhapura city was somewhat hotter.

There are thousands of archaeological sites around the old Anuradhapura city. We had only Saturday evening and Sunday morning, so we visited just nine of them (Thuparamaya, Samadhi Statue, Abayagiriya, Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruwanwelisaya, Tissa Wewa, Ranmasu Uyana, and Isurumuniya). Among those, the place that captured my heart most dearly was Abayagiriya.

This wasn’t the first time I had been to Abayagiriya. In 1998 I went with my parents to Anuradhapura, and I visited many religious and archaeological sites around the city, including Abayagiriya. But this time my experience at Abayagiriya was very different from the first time because, unintentionally, we visited Abayagiriya at the most perfect time of day.

My friends and I took a long walk from Thuparamaya to the Samadhi Statue. The Abayagiriya Stupa was only about 650 metres from the Samadhi Statue. It was just past 6:45 p.m. when we reached the Abayagiriya Stupa, and I saw its amazing view. The sight of the stupa was so magical that I forgot to take photos during the first five minutes.

Around the stupa it was somewhat more crowded than on ordinary days, but it didn’t disturb us. At that moment the sunlight had almost disappeared from the sky, and darkness was slowly falling while we stood in front of the massive structure. It seemed like a giant that covered the evening sky. We walked around the stupa on the maluw (the paved walkway) that is made of thousands of stone tiles. Those stones were still warm at that time; it must have been very hot around the afternoon.

All Photo Credit go to T. Perera

There was a strong smell of oil around the stupa because the people heavily used coconut oil. We spent about 20 minutes at the Abayagiriya, and we took a closer look at the old wahalkada. The site was clean and seemed to be well‑maintained. As it grew darker and later, we headed to our next destination, Sri Maha Bodhi.

Before wrapping up, I need to say that the Abayagiriya Stupa isn’t just an amazing view for your camera, nor is it merely a destination for Buddhist pilgrims. It is an ancient architectural wonder. King Valagamba built the Abayagiriya Stupa during his reign, from 89 to 77 BCE. It was part of his massive Buddhist temple complex, also known as the Abayagiriya Vihāra. After King Valagamba’s reign, Abayagiriya became one of the most powerful Mahāyāna Buddhist centers in South Asia. Standing 74.98 m tall, the Abayagiriya Stupa is the second‑largest Buddhist stupa in Sri Lanka, just behind the Jetavanārāmaya Stupa.