Poson trip Day 6 - Post-"Santa Claus-ing" sightseeing

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After 2 days of intensive giving/donating/offering, today we could afford to wake up a bit later and have a relaxed breakfast. Since we spent most of the past 2 days doing charity work and didn't manage to have much sightseeing, today our Bhante decided to bring us around Anuradhapura and Mihintale for some cultural sightseeing.

We first went to the Sri Maha Bodhi (Sacred Bodhi Tree) temple, in the middle of the Anuradhapura's ancient site. The sacred tree was grown from a cutting taken from the original bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, India, where Buddha attained enlightenment. The cutting was brought to Sri Lanka by Princess Sangamitta (sister of Prince Mahinda, who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka) in 3rd century BC. Not long after, the original bodhi tree in India was destroyed, but the "descendant" in Sri Lanka survived. The tree is still growing strong after more than 2000 years, and it's one of the holiest Buddhist place of worship in Sri Lanka. We did some prayers below the tree and took some photos, before returning to the bus.

We were then brought to the northern part of the ancient site, where a perfectly preserved moonstone (from 8th or 9th century AD) was on display. We also visited the Samadhi Buddha, carved from limestone in 4th century AD). Next, we went back to Mihintale, this time as visitors and not as "Santa Claus"... (On the previous day we gave away tons of freebies to thousands of pilgrims.) We visited the chief monk's house, where we were shown Buddha's sharira (crystal-like remains after someone is cremated). We also visited Mahinda's cave, the place where Mahinda (the prince who spread Buddhism to Sri Lanka) was claimed to meditate and sleep.

We then made our way to Dambulla, where we have our belated lunch (it's more like dinner, as it was already 7pm). Then we went up to the magnificent Dambulla Cave Temple, created in the 1st century BC by King Abhaya and further developed by various rulers over the years.

After the visit we made our way to Kegalle, where a minister invited us to his home for a grand dinner (it's a rather late dinner, as it was already 12am). The dinner was organised as a gratitude to our charity work for the past 2 days. We also took this opportunity to show gratitude and present gifts to our drivers and the team of Sri Lankan volunteers.

After the dinner, we boarded the bus and made our way to our hotel in Colombo. Along the way, the bus stopped at a cashew nut shop, which opened specially just for us even though it's 3am! However, so many of our group members crowded into the tiny shop that my mum and I decided not to bother and we went back to the bus to sleep.

Finally, we reached our hotel at 4:30am... Some of our fellow group members were flying to Chennai (India) at 7am, so they had to take a shower and repack their luggage hurriedly. Meanwhile, the rest of us (including my mum and me) would be staying in Colombo, so we just went to our room and slept.

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Photos

Our room in Miridiya Lodge, Anuradhapura
Finally we can afford to wake up later than the previous few days...

Going up the terrace of Sri Maha Bodhi
The Sri Maha Bodhi (Sacred Bodhi Tree) was the "descendent" of the original bodhi tree in India, under which Buddha attained enlightenment.

The uppermost terrace (where the sacred tree is) is out of bounds to the public
We can only see the tree from below

Moonstone of Mahasen's Palace - the finest moonstone in Sri Lanka
Moonstones are carved semicircular stones placed at shrine entrances to concentrate the mind of entering worshippers