Jetavanaramaya

About this place

Jetavanaramaya is a colossal brick stupa, a Buddhist relic monument, in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. King Mahasena began it in the late 3rd century CE and his son finished it. It is believed to have reached about 122 metres, often ranked the third-tallest structure of the ancient world after two of the Giza pyramids. Today it stands about 71 metres; one estimate counts some 93 million bricks. Mahasena built it on land of the Mahavihara monastery, after a bitter feud with its monks. Later chronicles say it enshrines part of a belt worn by the Buddha. Jetavana became one of the island's three great monastic orders until Parakramabahu I abolished it in the 12th century; he also rebuilt the stupa, lower than before. Unlike the white Ruwanwelisaya, its dome shows bare brick, conserved by the Central Cultural Fund since 1981 with minimal new brickwork. Stairways climb to the terrace on all four sides. Around it lie monastery ruins, among them an image house with stone door jambs about 8 metres tall. The Jetavana Museum, opened in 1996, displays the monastery's stone carvings, jewellery, relic deposits and pottery. In a straight line, the stupa is about 850 m east of Ruwanwelisaya and 1 km north-east of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi; Abhayagiri is about 2.3 km north and Mihintale 12 km east. Remove shoes and hats before climbing to the terrace and cover shoulders and knees. The paving burns by midday, so come early or in the late afternoon, and allow an hour or two with the museum.