Anuradhapura
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How it came to be
The chronicle Mahavamsa dates the town's origin to 437 BC and says King Pandukabhaya made it the capital in 377 BC. In the 3rd century BC, the nun Sanghamitta is said to have brought a cutting of the Buddha's Bodhi tree here.
The city grew around that sacred tree and remained the island's political and religious capital for about 1,300 years. After the Chola king Rajaraja I invaded in 993, it was largely deserted. UNESCO listed it in 1982.
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