Ruwanwelisaya Stupa

Ruwanwelisaya is the brilliant white stupa built by King Dutugemunu in the 2nd century BC in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is also called the Maha Thupa and Swarnamali Seya, and it suits anyone visiting the sacred city, pilgrim or not.

Begun by Dutugemunu around 140 BC

Dutugemunu began the stupa around 140 BC after defeating the Chola king Elara, and he died before it was finished. Tradition says it enshrines one dona of the Buddha's relics, which the temple counts as the largest such collection anywhere. It is one of the sixteen and the eight great places of veneration in Sri Lankan Buddhism.

103 metres tall with an elephant wall

Today the stupa rises 103 m with a circumference of 290 m; the original was about 55 m tall. Its wall of carved elephants and its huge dome make it one of the most photographed religious monuments in the country, and pilgrims circle it in white clothes with flowers.

Damage, jungle and the 1902 restoration society

Chola armies damaged the stupa, Parakramabahu I repaired it in the 12th century, and the army of Kalinga Magha later wrecked it. By the 19th century it was covered in jungle. A restoration society formed in 1902, the modern crowning was completed on 17 June 1940, and the final crowning took place on 26 November 2019. The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda in Myanmar was modelled on it.