Jaya Sri Maha Bodiya through time

Anuradhapura 1875–2020 26 photos of this spot

26 photographs taken at the same spot in Anuradhapura, spanning 1875–2020 — 21 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

This 1875 photograph shows the steps leading to the sacred Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura, the Sri Maha Bodhi said to have grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

EU: Trappen leidend naar de heilige bodhiboom in Anuradhapura (1875) 1875 This 1875 photograph shows the steps leading to the sacred Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura, the Sri Maha Bodhi said to have grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

EU: Second Flight of Steps Leading to the Sacred Bo Tree, Anuradhapura (1878) 1878 Steps leading to the Sacred Bo Tree at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 1878. Known as the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the tree is venerated as having grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, making Anuradhapura one of Buddhism's most important pilgrimage sites.

EU: Landscape in the vicinity of Anuradhapura (1890) 1890 Rural landscape surrounding Anuradhapura is captured in this 1890 photograph. Anuradhapura was one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka and a major center of early Buddhist civilization on the island, later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

EU: Stúpa Lankarama (1890) 1890 The Lankarama stupa, a Buddhist monument in the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is pictured here as it appeared in 1890, decades before the site's ruins were more extensively excavated and restored in the twentieth century.

EU: Trosky starověkého bazénu (1890) 1890 Dated 1890, this photograph shows the ruins of an ancient stone pool in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, one of the hydraulic structures built in the city during its long history as an ancient Buddhist capital and center of monastic life.

EU: Stúpa in 1890 1890 A stupa near Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 1890; the image is catalogued within the Náprstek collection, a Czech archive of ethnographic photography documenting Asia and other regions in the late nineteenth century.

EU: Stúpa in 1890 1890 Another view of a stupa at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, taken in 1890 and held in the Náprstek collection of ethnographic photographs, part of a broader set of images documenting the ancient Sri Lankan capital.

EU: Stúpa Thuparama (1890) 1890 The Thuparamaya stupa at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, regarded as one of the earliest Buddhist monuments on the island, appears in this 1890 photograph, taken well before its later reconstruction.

EU: Schodiste ke kralovninu palaci (1890) 1890 A stone staircase leading toward what was identified as a former royal palace at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is documented in this 1890 photograph of the ancient city's ruins.

EU: Stupa and ruins (1890) 1890 Weathered ruins and a stupa at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, stand together in this 1890 photograph of the ancient city, once a flourishing center of Buddhist pilgrimage and monastic learning.

EU: Rozvaliny chramu (1890) 1890 The remains of a temple at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, are documented in this 1890 photograph of the ancient Buddhist capital, whose ruins were still largely unrestored at the time.

EU: Stupa Abhajagiri (1890) 1890 The Abhayagiri stupa, once among the tallest monuments of the ancient world, rises above the ruins of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in this 1890 photograph taken before its later restoration.

EU: Stone Buddhist sculptures (1890) 1890 Carved stone Buddhist sculptures photographed at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in 1890, remnants of the city's centuries as a major religious and political center of ancient Sri Lanka.

EU: Stoepa, Anuradhapura (1895) 1895 This 1895 photograph shows a stupa at Anuradhapura, one of the sacred cities of Sri Lankan Buddhism and the island's first capital, founded more than two thousand years ago.

EU: Ruïne, Anuradhapura (1895) 1895 Ruins among the ancient monastic complexes of Anuradhapura, recorded in 1895, when the long-abandoned former capital was already drawing attention as an archaeological site under British colonial rule.

EU: Stoepa, Anuradhapura, view 2 (1895) 1895 A second view of the same Anuradhapura stupa seen in a companion 1895 photograph, taken from a different angle to document the ancient Buddhist monument more fully.

Gezicht op de vijvers Kuttam Pokuna nabij de stoepa Ruwanwelisaya te Anuradhapura Kuttam-pokuna (titel op object) 1896 The Kuttam Pokuna, twin bathing ponds near the ancient Ruwanwelisaya stupa in Anuradhapura, photographed in 1896 in Ceylon's former royal capital, whose ruins drew renewed attention under British rule after centuries of abandonment.

EU: Stúpa in 1901 1901 Anuradhapura, one of Sri Lanka's ancient royal capitals, is home to numerous Buddhist stupas built over two millennia. This 1901 photograph captures one of these dome-shaped dagobas, structures traditionally raised to enshrine sacred relics and mark sites of religious significance.

Stoepa, Anuradhapura 1905 A stupa at Anuradhapura photographed in 1905, part of the ruined complexes left from the city's centuries as the ancient capital of Sri Lanka before it was abandoned and later resettled under colonial rule.

EU: Stúpa in 1925 1925 A Buddhist stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 1925. Anuradhapura was an ancient royal capital of Sri Lanka and remains a major center of Buddhist pilgrimage today.

EU: Stúpa in 1925 1925 A stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 1925. Anuradhapura was the island's first capital and remains home to some of the oldest Buddhist monuments in South Asia.

Anuradhapura - Sri Lanka 2010 Anuradhapura, one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, is home to well-preserved ruins of Buddhist monasteries, stupas, and irrigation works dating back over two thousand years. This photograph from 2010 shows part of the historic site.

Anuradhapura - Sri Lanka 2010 A 2010 photograph of Anuradhapura, one of Sri Lanka's ancient capitals and a major center of Buddhist pilgrimage, home to some of the world's oldest surviving stupas.

Anuradhapura - Sri Lanka 2010 Another 2010 view of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, whose ruins date back over two thousand years to the island's early Buddhist kingdoms.

SL Anuradhapura Jetavanaramaya Stupa 2020 This 2020 photograph shows the Jetavanaramaya stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, one of the tallest brick structures of the ancient world, built in the third century CE.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodiya 2020 Pilgrims gather at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the sacred fig tree in Anuradhapura believed to have grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in India over two thousand years ago. It remains one of the most venerated Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.