The Jetavanaramaya is a stupa, located in the ruins of Jetavana Monastery in the sacred city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

King Mahasen (273-301 AD) has the honour of being the creator of the largest stupa in Sri Lanka. A part of a sash or belt tied by the Buddha is believed to be the relic that is enshrined here.

It is said by the British archaeologists who excavated the site that the amount of bricks used to build the stupa is enough to build a three-meter high wall, running all the way from Edinburgh to London.
At a height of over 400 feet (120 m), it is one of the tallest stupas in the world (the tallest being Phra Pathom Chedi, Thailand), largest brick building ever built, and 3rd largest structure in the ancient world, after the two largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Approximately 93,300,000 baked bricks were used to build the stupa (Ratnayake 1993). This stupa belongs to the Sagalika sect.

The compound covers approximately 8 acres (5.6 hectares) and once housed over 3000 Buddhist monks. One side of the stupa is 576 feet (176 m) long, and the flights of stairs at each of the four sides of it are 28 feet (8.5 m) wide. The doorpost to the shrine, which is situated in the courtyard, is 27 feet (8.2 m) high. The stupa has a 6 m deep foundation, and sits on bedrock. Stone inscriptions in the courtyard give the names of people who donated to the building effort.

As the largest ancient stupa  constructed and one of the tallest ancient structures in the world, the structural ingenuity and engineering skills employed for the construction are significant. The foundations of the structure were 8.5m deep and the size of the structure required bricks which could withstand loads of up to 166 kg. The solid foundation lay on bed-rock and the dome was constructed of full and half bricks and earth fill, the unique shape of a perfect ellipsoid allowed for stress and thus allowed the construction of the large structure.

The Mahavamsa describes the foundation laying, where fissures were filled with stones and stamped down by elephants whose feet were protected with leather bindings. The bricks used for the construction were a significant development of ancient Sri Lankan engineering, the bricks used for Jetavanaramaya had a composition of 60 percent fine sand and 35 percent clay, the bricks could withstand 281 kg/in2. Linear elastic finite element analysis under self weight produced a maximum compressive stress of 839 kPa at the bottom centre, thus the maximum stress in the dome is ten times less than what the bricks could withstand.

The great city

Anuradhapura attained its highest magnificence about the commencement of the Christian era. In its prime it ranked beside Nineveh and Babylon in its colossal proportions—its four walls, each 16 miles (26 km) long, enclosing an area of 256 square miles (663 km²) —in the number of its inhabitants, and the splendour of its shrines and public edifices. The city also had some of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world, situated in the dry zone of the country the administration built many tanks to irrigate the land. Most of these tanks still survive. To date, it is believed that some of these tanks are the oldest surviving reservoirs in the world today.

The great building era

The great building era was when vast monastery complexes and some of the tallest buildings in the ancient world were built. The Jetavanaramaya dagoba of the city is still the highest brick structure in the world.
The Maha Vihara was centered around the orthodox Theravadins. This was founded by King Devanampiya Tissa in 249 BC. The heterdox Mahayanists founded the Abhayagiri Vihara. King Mahasena (275-310 BC) built the Jetavanaramaya located in between the Maha Vihara and the Abhayagiri Monastries.
In the suburbs of the city major monasteries with their gigantic stupas were constructed, The Maha Thupa, the Bodhi Tree and Thuparama of the Maha Vihara stood to the south of the city. The Abhayagiri to the north, the Pubbarama to the east, the Tanovana to the north-west and the Jetavanaramaya to the south-east.
The Sacred Tooth Relic was brought to the city in the reign of King Kirtisri Meghavana. The relic was deposited in a building named Dhammacakka. Since then annually it was carried in a procession to the Abhayagiri monastery after which an exposition was held.

BeginningsThe layout of Anuradhapura as described in the Mahavamsa:
"He laid out (...) four suburbs as well as the Abhaya-tank, the common cemetery, the place of execution, and the chapel of the Queens of the West, the banyan-tree of Vessavana and the Palmyra-palm of the Demon of Maladies, the ground set apart for the Yonas and the house of the Great Sacrifice; all these he laid out near the west gate." Mahavamsa X, trans. Wilhelm Geiger "A hermitage was made for many ascetics; eastward of that same cemetery the ruler built a house for the nigantha Jotiya.(...) On the further side of Jotiya's house and on this side of the Gamani tank he likewise built a monastery for wandering mendicant monks, and a dwelling for the ajivakas and a residence for the brahmans, and in this place and that he built a lying-in shelter and a hall for those recovering from sickness." Mahavamsa X, trans. Wilhelm Geiger It is said that King Pandukabhaya made it his capital in the 4th century BC, and that he also laid out the town and its suburbs according to a well organised plan. He constructed a reservoir named Abhayavapi. He established shrines for yakkhas such as Kalawela and Cittaraja. He housed the Yaksini-Cetiya in the form of a mare within the royal precincts and offerings were made to all these demi-gods every year. He chose the sites for the cemetery and for the place of execution, the Chapel of the Western Queen, the Pacchimarajini, the Vessavana Banyan Tree, the Palm of the Vyadhadeva, the Yona Quarter and the House of the Great Sacrifice. The slaves or Candalas were assigned their duties and a village was set apart for them. They build dwellings for Niganthas, for wandering ascetics and for Ajivakas and Brahmanas. He established, the village boundaries. The tradition that King Pandukabhaya made Anuradhapura the capital city of Sri Lanka as early as the fourth century BC had been very important.
The administrative and sanitary arrangements be made for the city and the shrines he provided indicate that over the years the city developed according to an original master plan. His son Mutasiva, succeeded to the throne. During his reign of sixty years, he maintained Anuradhapura as his capital and further laid out the Mahameghavana Garden which was to play an important role in the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It was in the period of his successor, his son Devanam piya Tissa, that Buddhism was first introduced this island 236 years after the passing away of the Buddha. Emperor Ashoka in India was a contemporary of Devanam piya Tissa. Historically this period is considered to extend from 250 to 210 BC. This is the point at which a kingship began and a civilization developed based on one of the greatest religions of South Asia, Buddhism.

Protohistoric Iron Age

Although according to historical records the city was founded in the 5th century BC, the archaeological data put the date as far back as the 10th century BC. very little evidence was available about the period before the 5th century BC (i.e. the protohistoric period), though excavations have revealed information about the earlier inhabitants of the city.
Further excavations in Anuradhapura have uncovered information about the existence of a protohistoric habitation of humans in the citadel. The protohistoric Iron Age which spans from 900 - 600 BC, marked the appearance of iron technology, pottery, the horse, domestic cattle and paddy cultivation. In the time period 700 -600 BC the settlement in Anuradhapura had grown over an area of at least 50 ha. The city was strategically situated of major ports northwest and northeast, it was surrounded by irrigable and fertile land. The city was also buried deep in the jungle providing natural defence from invaders.

Lower Early Historic period

The Lower Early Historic period spanning from 500 - 250 BC, is studied on the lines of the chronicles. During this time King Pandukabhaya formally planned the city, with gates, quarters for traders etc. The city at the time would have covered an area of 1 square kilometre which makes it one of the largest in the continent at the time.

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, world famous for its well preserved ruins of the Great Sri Lankan Civilization. The Civilization which was built upon this city was one of the greatest civilizations of Asia and in the world. The city now a UNESCO heritage site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Founded in the 4th century BC it was the capital of the Anuradhapura Kingdom till the beginning of the 11th century AC. During this period it remained one of the most stable and durable centers of political power and urban life in South Asia. It was also a wealthy city which created a unique culture and a great civilization. Today this ancient city of Sri Lanka, which is sacred to the Buddhist world, which its surrounding monasteries covers an area of over sixteen square miles ( 40 sq km) and is one of the world's major archaeological sites.

King Pandukabhaya

Prince Panduvasudeva and Princess Buddhakachchana (daughter of a King named Panda, from an ancient Royal family, a cousin of the Buddha) were married and duly consecrated as the second King and Queen of Lanka.
The King had ten sons, the eldest named Abhaya, and one daughter names Ummadha Citta.
A court Brahimn (learned astrologer) predicted that the son who will be born to Princess Citta will destroy his uncles. The sons of King Panduvasudeva held a meeting led by the second son Tissa and planned to kill their sister, Princess Citta. The eldest son, Abhaya, did not approve of such an extreme and cruel action, and with the consent of his father, the King, ordered her to be placed in solitary confinement. She was placed in a chamber adjoining the King’s own private chamber and the Queen’s personal maid, Cetiya, was entrusted with the task of taking care of the infant princess.
As the years went by Princess Citta grew into a beautiful woman. Shortly after her sixteenth year she was looking down at the garden from her chamber window and saw her brother Prince Tissa talking to a stranger under a tree. She asked Cetiya, her maid, who this man was and was told that he was Prince Dighagamini, the ruler of a neighboring state. The princess expressed her desire to meet this Prince and the maid Cetiya arranged this and a meeting took place between them. Soon, it was discovered by Citta and Princess Cetiya that the Princess was pregnant. Princess Citta confided this situation to her brother Prince Abhaya and he then learned that the person responsible was his own cousin Prince Dhigagamini.
Abhaya told his father the story and persuaded him to marry the princess to Prince Dhigagamini. The King agreed. Abhaya next told his brothers who were all furious with anger. Tissa proclaimed that if Citta’s child was a boy he would kill him immediately. Citta, in her attempt to protect her child should he be a boy, planned to substitute a female newborn child in the place of hers if her child was a boy which was the case. Her new born son was smuggled out of the palace and a new born female child was substituted in his place. Her mother the Queen and the maidservant Cetiya, both, agreed to help in this caper. The newborn son was spirited away into the safe and secluded territory of the Ruhuna (south of the Island). A female newborn child was substituted in his place by the side of Citta. The King was overjoyed at the birth of his granddaughter and named her Canna, after her grandmother.
The boy, now growing up in distant Ruhuna, was named Pandukabhaya, a combination of the names of Citta’s father, Panduvasudeva, and her eldest brother Abhaya, who had been her lifelong friend and savior.

Princess Ummada Citta’s cunning plan to conceal her son from her wicked brothers did not remain a closed secret for very long. They tried hard to seek him and kill him but failed. King Abhaya was accused by his brothers for having connived and helped their sister protect her son Pandukabhaya. Thus he was deposed and the second son, Prince Tissa, was given the throne.

Second son of King Panduvasudeva, younger brother of King Abhaya – He was appointed the regent by his eight younger brothers after the deposition of the oldest brother, King Abhaya, from the throne. Tissa claimed that he would be consecrated king only after he had finally defeated his nephew Pandukhabaya. This, however, was not to be as Pandukabhaya swept on triumphantly. Tissa was slain in battle along with all his eight younger brothers. Abhaya was spared. Pandukabhaya, the undisputed victor, called upon his uncle Abhaya to take up the throne again. Abhaya declined.Grandson of King Panduvasudeva, Son of Princess Umaddha Citta, Nephew of King Abhaya and Prince Tissa – Umaddha Citta had entrusted the education of her son, Pandukabhaya, to a Brahmin by the name of Pandula. This Brahmin made his own son, Canda, the fellow student of the Prince and the two became good friends. Pandukabhaya married a beautiful princess named Swarnapali (Pali), daughter of Girikandasiva, an uncle of his who was governing the territory of Girikandaka. They were consecrated King and Queen of Lanka. Pandukabhaya founded the city of Anuradhapura and the seat of government was moved to the new city. He appointed his friend, Canda (son of his Brahin teacher), to the office of Adigar (Minister). He also appointed his uncle Abhaya, Mayor of the city. To his father-in-law Girikandasiva he restored the city of Girikandaka. He devoted much of his time to the adornment and civil government of the new capital city of Anuradhapura. Agriculture too received his due share of attention. He constructed the Jaya Wewa and Gamini Wewa. Magnificent was the tolerance and encouragement of all religious systems during this period of Lanka’s history. He also built a special palace for his mother, Umaddha Citta, at Anuradhapura. He died after having reigned for seventy years.