Thursday, December 19, 2013

Sights at Mihinthale, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.





Sights at Mihinthale. Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

Granite pillars.

Stone inscriptions.



Sights at Mihinthale.

A water cistern made of stone.

A wall of baked bricks.

A wall of granite.

Granite pillars.

Mihinthale sights, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

The floor of the 'Alms-hall'.

A brick lined passage-way.

A stone-cistern to contain water into which flowing water was conducted by granite pipes.

The lush greenery around.
The archaeological finds at this site of more than 2300 years of habitation is astounding. Almost all the structures remaining at present were made from granite or baked bricks. It was a stone-cutter who reigned supreme here. The vision of the builder was amazing.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Mihinthale sights, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

This is a new driveway, by-passing the famous stairway taking one to the caves and stairway leading to the 'Ambasthala Chaithya'




mihinthale

BY MANOJ DISSANAYAKE ON MAY 30, 2013UNDER UNCATEGORIZED
it’s  about  16  k.m out of anuradapura  lies  mihintale  remembered  in national   consciousness  as the cradle  of the  sinhala  buddhist  civilisation, it  is here  that  thera  mahinda  , son of  the mauryan   emperor  asoka,  met king  tissa  in the  third  century  BC,  as a  result  of  which  the king  embraced  buddhism…, in  fact the name  mihintale, which  mean’s  the  ” plateau  of mahinda”   is  derived  from  thera’s   name..the  mountain  was also  known as  chetiya   pabbata( the mountain  of stupas).
on the  western  slope  of the mountain  is the main flight of steps  that would  take you  to ambastala  plain  , it is a  wide flight  of  steps.. perhaps the  widest  in sri lanka, and is concidered  symbolic  of the  spiritual ascent  of  man. it has  1840  stone  steps arranged  in three flights, shaded  by temple  trees on either side…..
all so, there are some  of the  important  monuments…..

kantaka  chetiya /  ambastala  stupa / maha thupa / mahinda seya / mihindu guha / aradana gala…………http://tour-lanka.com/blog/?p=50