172 Topographical and Statistical Account of 



Putlam, about, the year 543 B. C. His successor, in 504 

 B. C, removed to Wijitapoora in this district ; and Pandik- 

 kabhayoo who followed in the year 474 B. C, took up his 

 residence at Anooradhapoora ; and from this time till A.D. 729, 

 Anooradhapoora continued to be the metropolis of Ceylon. 

 About the year 307 B. C, the thero (saint) Mahindho, son of 

 "Dhamma Soka, Emperor of India, introduced Boodhism into 

 Ceylon. It was then that the branch of the sacred Bogaha 

 ( Ficus religioso ) was brought to, and self-planted at Anoorad- 

 hapoora ; and here, enclosed in a triple terrace of masonry, it 

 still exists, and still attracts annually thousands of pilgrims 

 from all parts of the Island, and occasionally also from India, 

 and even from Siam ; and it is here that the yet venerated 

 Dhootoogamoonoo, about B. C. 161, expended a vast amount of 

 labour in erecting those bee-hive shaped edifices, called dagobas, 

 ehcityas, or thoopoos, which enshrine relics of the philosopher 

 Booddhoo ; and which, though time has impaired the symmetry 

 of their form, still tower in solemn grandeur over the surround- 

 ing forests, and proclaim to the yet distant traveller the locality 

 of the sacred city. Seven or eight dagobas of various sizes 

 are scattered round the station : these with carved step 

 stones, and altars, pillars, capitals, and images of Hindoo 

 deities, with long stretches of low mounds and walls, form the 

 chief antiquities to be found at the station, and attract notice, 

 rather from their vast number and extent, than from any other 

 quality they possess. They are interesting, as marking the 

 period when Singhalese genius and enterprise reached their 

 zenith ; and to the eye of the engineer, the accuracy of the 

 work is a matter of just admiration. 



The Maha Lohkaposada will much disappoint the visitor. 

 It consists simply of a solid square of roughly squared slender 

 pillars, forty in each row, and rising about 9 feet above the 

 general surface. Each side of the square is 221 feet, There 



