The Story of Anuradhapura Book Preview

The Story of Anuradhapura by Senani Ponnamperuma is a beautifully illustrated, easy-to-read book that presents the fascinating tale of the Anuradhapura Kingdom of ancient Sri Lanka. The author is a brilliant storyteller who has brought the story of this great civilization alive for the very first time. Using a crisp narrative style and numerous illustrations and photographs, he brings much new information and many previously unknown and overlooked facts to light.

For nearly 1400 years, the Anuradhapura Kingdom flourished as one of the ancient world's great civilizations. Its capital, resplendent with gleaming white dagobas—like massive spired globules, dotted the ancient cityscape. Adjacent to them were massive monasteries with tens of thousands of monks chanting mantras. Foreigners flocked to its shores to trade, and the people prospered. Then, in just a few years, it was snuffed out, abandoned, engulfed by forest, and forgotten. What happened? Why did a civilization that had thrived for so long collapse so suddenly and vanish into the realms of folk memory?

Read about the rise of fall of Anuradhapura in this book.