Jungle ruins

Anuradhapura is known for them - we explored for several hours but you could spend all day. This is the Abhayagiri Dagoba (Stupa). It dates from 1st or 2nd century BC when Buddhism first came to Sri Lanka. It's name means "Hill of Protection" and it was the centre of a monastery of 5000 monks which were part of the "School of the Secret Forest", a heretical sect that studied both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.