Anuradhapura, an ancient city in northern Sri Lanka, has been continuously inhabited since the fourth century BCE. The city, one of the holiest in the Buddhist world, is characterized by a rich history and magnificent archaeology. As reported by CNN, one can find in the city Buddhist pilgrims dressed in white walking barefoot, monks in colorful robes chanting in the morning hours, and many tourists visiting the site in order to absorb the sacred atmosphere. It is known as the first place to adopt Buddhism outside India, and religious ceremonies have been performed there for more than 2,000 years.
Across the city’s vast archaeological park are scattered monasteries, reservoirs and stupas (a sacred structure believed to contain relics of the Buddha) considered among the most ambitious religious monuments ever built. Towering above many religious monuments is a massive bubble-shaped stupa called “Jetavanaramaya.” This dome is so large that when its construction was completed in the early fourth century CE, it was ranked as the third largest human-made structure on Earth, surpassed only by the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Jetavanaramaya
The stupa, completed in 301 CE, using approximately 93.3 million baked mud bricks, originally rose to a height of about 122 meters, making it one of the tallest structures in the ancient world.
Today, after centuries of collapse, abandonment and restoration, Jetavanaramaya rises to a height of about 71 meters – still impressive in size, but less than half of its original height. Despite this, it remains the largest brick structure ever built in terms of volume.
But outside Sri Lanka, Jetavanaramaya is not very well known. Unlike the pyramids, it was not continuously visible throughout history. Jungle growth, shifting religious priorities and poor preservation gradually buried both the structure and much of its story, leaving one of the greatest engineering achievements of the ancient world largely forgotten.
“Jetavanaramaya” refers not only to the stupa itself, but to the heart of a vast monastic complex that housed hundreds of monks. Every structure in the compound was oriented toward the stupa, ensuring that monks leaving their residences would first face it – a daily reminder of devotion and cosmological order. On the lower terraces of the stupa, it was customary to offer offerings while slowly walking clockwise around its base.
From the outset, Jetavanaramaya was controversial. It was built on land traditionally associated with the “Maha Vihara,” the orthodox Theravada Buddhist establishment, reportedly without the consent of its monks. The complex was later associated with the Sagalika sect, which followed Mahayana doctrines.
Today, Sri Lanka remains largely a Theravada Buddhist nation. As a result, much of Jetavanaramaya’s history, including the political and doctrinal tensions surrounding its establishment, can only be reconstructed indirectly, leaving historians with partial and sometimes disputed versions.
The Construction Challenge
The Jetavanaramaya stupa reflects the peak of ancient Sri Lankan engineering knowledge. Its immense rounded shape efficiently distributes weight, its foundations are strong, and there are findings indicating that there was an attempt to create a ventilation system within it.
The technical challenges in its construction were enormous. Unlike the stone pyramids of Egypt, this structure was built almost entirely of mud bricks, a material far more vulnerable to erosion and collapse. Archaeologists have identified ancient brick kilns in and around Anuradhapura, confirming large-scale brick production in the area. However, none of them can be definitively linked to Jetavanaramaya or securely dated to the early fourth century.
Transporting this quantity of material would have required extraordinary organization and extensive labor. Some sources suggest that the work relied on voluntary labor, while others indicate that slaves and prisoners of war were also used.
Historians believe that elephants and ox carts were almost certainly used, as was done at other large construction sites in Sri Lanka – including Ruwanwelisaya, the holiest stupa in the city, built centuries earlier in 140 BCE.
A fascinating fact about the Jetavanaramaya stupa is that no attempt was ever made to build a stupa on a similar scale in Sri Lanka. Archaeologists say that even in Southeast Asia, the bubble shape was adopted but never on the same immense scale.
The Structure Throughout History
Despite the sophisticated construction process, time took its toll. Earthquakes, monsoon rains and centuries of abandonment caused parts of the stupa to collapse, with the last major renovation taking place in the 12th century.
Excavations also revealed sacred caskets embedded throughout the stupa at various structural levels. These contained sacred relics and ritual deposits, reinforcing Jetavanaramaya’s role not only as an architectural achievement but also as a sacred structure built from the inside out.
The immense scale of Jetavanaramaya invites comparison with Ruwanwelisaya – the nearby white and gleaming stupa, which today holds far deeper religious significance for the residents of Sri Lanka. Ruwanwelisaya is believed to contain some of the most sacred relics in Buddhism, including part of the Buddha’s own relics. It remains a central focus for pilgrimage and national religious life.
Although in its original form it was smaller than Jetavanaramaya, Ruwanwelisaya was continuously maintained over the generations, and today it rises higher than the truncated structure of Jetavanaramaya, exceeding the 100-meter mark. Travelers are invited to observe and participate in any of the nine daily puja ceremonies held at Ruwanwelisaya, with the first beginning at dawn.