MahabodhiVihara Anuradhapura through time

Anuradhapura 1919–2024 14 photos of this spot

14 photographs taken at the same spot in Anuradhapura, spanning 1919–2024 — 1 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

The Sri Maha Bodhi shrine at Anuradhapura, Ceylon, home to a sacred fig tree revered as one of the oldest documented trees in the world, photographed before 1920.

MahabodhiVihara Anuradhapura 1919 The Sri Maha Bodhi shrine at Anuradhapura, Ceylon, home to a sacred fig tree revered as one of the oldest documented trees in the world, photographed before 1920.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 05 2013 The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura is said to have grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in India under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, making it one of the oldest documented trees in the world.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 15 2013 Another view of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, the sacred fig tree tended by Buddhist monks for over two thousand years.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 17 2013 The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 2013. Tradition holds it grew from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree, planted in the 3rd century BCE.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 12 2013 The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is said to have grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and is tended as one of the oldest documented trees in the world. This photograph dates to 2013.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 20 2013 Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the sacred fig tree in Anuradhapura, photographed from another angle in 2013, with the platform and railings that protect the ancient tree visible around its base.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 16 2013 Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 2013. Grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in India, it is regarded as one of the oldest documented trees in the world and a major Buddhist pilgrimage site.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 07 2013 The sacred Bodhi tree enclosure known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, photographed in 2013.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 18 2013 Pilgrims and grounds around Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in a 2013 photograph of the site said to hold a cutting of the original tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

Anuradhapura Bo Tree at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 2015 The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is said to have grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, brought to the island in the third century BCE. Photographed in 2015.

Anuradhapura Bo Tree at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 2015 The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, said to have grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in India and planted in the 3rd century BCE, is one of the oldest historically documented trees in the world. Photographed in 2015.

SL Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 2020 Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, a sacred fig tree said to have grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree brought from India in the third century BCE and tended as a Buddhist pilgrimage site ever since.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi - Arbre sagrat 2023 Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is venerated as having grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, brought to the island in the 3rd century BCE. It remains a pilgrimage site within the UNESCO-listed Sacred City of Anuradhapura. Photographed in 2023.

Bo Tree at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 2024 The sacred Bo tree at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura is said to have grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and has been tended continuously by generations of caretakers since ancient times.