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Anuradhapura is situated in north-central Sri Lanka (Ceylon) along the Aruvi Aru River.

Anuradhapura was founded in the 5^th century B.C. and was the Sinhalese capital of Sri Lanka from the 4^th century B.C. until the 11^th century A.D. The city was home to the royal court from 437 B.C. to 1017 A.D. According to the Mahavansa, the Sinhala Buddhist chronicle, the city was a model of planning. Precincts were set aside for huntsmen and scavengers and even heretics and foreigners. There were hostels and hospitals, separate cemeteries for high and low castes. A water supply was assured by the construction of reservoirs.

In the 3^rd Century B.C. the missionary Mahinda son of the North-Indian emperor Asoka brought the teachings of Buddha to Anuradhapura, which has to this day influenced Buddhism in Sri Lanka. As a Buddhist stronghold Anuradhapura became famous and was honoured far across the region, as result there were innumerable processions of pilgrims to the holy city. The reason of all these pilgrims for coming was the presence of the holy Bo-tree, which was grown from a branch of the very tree under which the Lord Buddha found enlightenment, as well as to visit the Thuparama dagoba which contains as a relic the collarbone from the Lord Buddha.

During the more than 1,000 years of its existence, the kingdom of Anuradhapura developed a high degree of culture, especially manifest in its art and architecture.

Beginning in the 2^nd century B.C. the kingdom of Anuradhapura was plagued by invasions from South India, which increased in later centuries. Moreover, internecine struggles for the royal succession grew. The South Indians gained actual control of the kingdom several times - in the 2^nd century B.C. in the 5^th century A.D. and most notably in the late 10^th century, after which Anuradhapura was finally abandoned as the Sinhalese capital in favour of the city of Polonnaruva. Invasions from South India forced the shifting of the capital more secluded areas. The city was abandoned and overrun by jungle then.

In the 19^th century the British rediscovered the city. The Governor Sir William Henry Gregory in 1878 A.D. decreed by an edict that Anuradhapura should once again be inhabited and become the capital of at least a province which he carved out as the North Central Province, rescuing the eternal city from pestilence and jungle. The city became a Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

The contemporary city, much of which was moved during the mid-20^th century to preserve the site of the ancient capital, is a major road junction of northern Sri Lanka and lies along a railway line. The headquarters of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon is in Anuradhapura.

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