As the sky grew darker, more and more of the faithful settled down on the platform around the dagoba. All of them were barefooted and dressed in white. Even after it was completely dark, waves of newcomers continued to move this way.

At 6:30 in the evening, a Buddhist ceremony was in progress at the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. Over one thousand people, some having traveled long distances to attend the ceremony, had gathered on the broad terrace around the dagoba (a bell-shaped monument designed as a shrine or reliquary). Everyone was dressed neatly and in simple colors. Tiny light bulbs lit up the heads of the four hundred elephant statues that supported the terrace, and the gold-plated tip of the dagoba’s spire started to glow high up in the night sky.

Since the ceremony was to last two or three hours, I decided to stroll around. Along the way, I ran into two little novices about eleven or twelve years old: Mata Vihara and Rurani Nisansala. They were quite knowledgeable about the history of this monument. "The Ruwanweliseya Dagoba was rebuilt in the nineteenth century," they explained to me. "It is about one hundred meters tall, and it is the largest dagoba in Sri Lanka. During the early period, it served as a repository for some of the Buddha's relics. But what you see today is not its original appearance..."

As we talked, we moved towards the broad terrace of the dagoba. Beautiful statues of the Buddha lined the walkways. Each one of these Buddhas had his robe draped over his left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder bare, just like the two little novices before me.

The three-hour ceremony proceeded quietly to its close. The participants left calmly, their bare feet treading the soft sand. The fragrance of incense wafting from inside the temple permeated every person and every thing in the cool night.

I felt the same kind of atmosphere throughout Anuradhapura, the oldest and largest city in Sri Lanka. It was hard to tell whether it emanated from the ancient history of the city or from a thousand years of living with the Buddha.

The most beautiful stepping stone

"In the fifth century b.c., an Indian prince arrived in Ceylon [modern Sri Lanka] with several hundred followers and built an empire on the island with its capital at Anuradhapura," our guide told us. "Buddhism was transmitted from India in a.d. 247 and became the national religion. For the next 1,500 years, the capital remained the largest Buddhist city in the world." While I listened to him with interest, I was attracted to the cold but beautiful, half-moon-shaped stone beneath my feet.

According to the guide, this was the "moon stone." One can find it at the entrance of every Buddhist dagoba and temple throughout Sri Lanka.

It bears its name because it has the shape of a half moon. It is carved from granite or limestone, and it is placed in front of a Buddhist temple so that the worshipper’s bare feet on the stone can calm his mind before he enters the temple. The outermost layer of the stone is carved in the shape of flames. Next are images of lions, cattle, elephants and the like. The innermost layer portrays rattan grass, a representation of human desires. Besides the moon stone, there are two other beautifully carved guard stones on each side of the temple door. Worshippers believe that these stones can protect the temple from intrusion by evil spirits.

Following the development of Buddhism, the unending streams of pilgrims went to other sacred places. The moon stones at many ancient temples no longer see the bare feet of crowds of worshippers. Now the stones lie quietly among the grass and weeds.

A devoted Buddhist country

Like the Buddhists in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and among the Tai people in Yunnan Province in China, the Buddhists in Sri Lanka belong to the Theravada branch of Buddhism.

In the third century b.c., when King Asoka ruled over India, he sent his son Mahendra to Sri Lanka to disseminate Buddhism there. When Mahendra arrived, Devanampiya Tissa, king of Sri Lanka, met him at Mihintale Mountain, eleven kilometers from Anuradhapura. After only a few conversations, the king took a great interest in the Buddhist religion and invited Mahendra and his group to the palace. The king then became the first Buddhist in Sri Lanka.

After that, Indian preachers quickly passed the Buddhist teachings on to others. Within seven days 8,500 people accepted the faith, and within about two months all the people inside and around the palace became Buddhists. Anuradhapura soon became the largest Buddhist city in Sri Lanka.

Because Mihintale is regarded as the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, it is highly revered by the Sri Lankans and has attracted many visitors. A grand stairway with a total of 1,840 granite steps leads to the summit of Mihintale. They are not easy to climb, yet on the way up I often saw barefooted lay people in white clothes walking nimbly up and down the steps. Our photographer and I, however, panted and perspired heavily under the scorching sun. Furthermore, tiny pebbles painfully stabbed our feet, making us walk more slowly than even older people.

Actually the mountain is not very high, only 330 meters [1090 ft]. It is dotted with many shrines and rock dwellings. A certain flat rock is said to be the place where the king and Mahendra first met. When we visited this spot, we felt as if we had power over everything below us and as if the strong winds could help us reach enlightenment through the spirit of nature.

Looking at the history of Sri Lanka, one realizes that the kings who chose Anuradhapura for their capital were all devoted Buddhists. They built temples and shrines and ordered the carving of Buddhist statues to decorate their city. It is remarkable that these beautiful, majestic buildings, dating from the second to the twelfth centuries, are still in such good condition. This land, which has preserved so many precious temples and stone sculptures, is a forgotten Shangri-La that has faithfully sheltered the Buddhist belief over the centuries.

The shrine for the Buddha's collarbone

The Thuparama Dagoba stands outside the city. It is the oldest shrine in Sri Lanka and it contains a unique relic: the Buddha's collarbone. It is said that Mahendra brought the bone to Sri Lanka and that Devanampiya Tissa built this magnificent shrine to house it.

Thuparama, a bell-shaped, four-story dagoba, has no entrance. Although only the shrine itself is preserved, you can still imagine the shape of the outer layer of buildings by looking at the remains of their stone pillars.

With the change of dynasties after the fourteenth century, several ancient cities in Sri Lanka were deserted and forgotten in the forests. Only in the twentieth century did archaeologists rediscover these cities and their splendid paintings, sculptures and temples. At a time when Buddhist art in India was on the decline, particularly elegant art was being created in Sri Lanka.

In the courtyard of the Kelaneya Temple outside Colombo, a group of neatly dressed women surrounded a flourishing bodhi tree that was protected by a stone wall. Each woman had her white hair tied into a bun and was dressed in a white sari, one end of which was tied around the waist and the other end draped over her shoulder. In between, the bare waist revealed signs of old age.

Carrying simple clay pots on their right shoulders, the women walked around the wall until they reached the main entrance to the bodhi tree. There they ascended the stairs and poured the water from their pots into a large stone container, from which it would flow to the roots of the bodhi tree. As they moved forward, one following another, they chanted Buddhist sutras. The long line of white color and the harmony emanating from the faces of these women were most attractive.

Honoring the Buddha under the bodhi tree

Nowadays there are bodhi trees in the courtyards of every Buddhist temple, where they are used for all sorts of ceremonies. However, the 2,200-year-old Sri Maha bodhi tree in Anuradhapura is revered as a national treasure, because it is an offshoot of the bodhi tree under which the Buddha sat when he found enlightenment. According to historical records, this tree was brought from India in the third century by Mahendra's sister. It is now the oldest bodhi tree in the world, and we went to pay our respects.

Our earlier excitement was now subdued. We held our breath and walked quietly to the site, because we were afraid to disturb the tranquility. The old bodhi tree was protected by layers of stone walls. There are three platforms behind the stone walls, and visitors must take off their shoes at the entrance and enter barefooted. They also have to kneel down at the first platform and fold their hands in prayer. Since I was not acquainted with the proper etiquette, I simply followed what other people were doing. Before I even had a chance to get a good look at the tree, I submitted to the profoundly sacred atmosphere of this place.

The 2,200-year-old bodhi tree is frail and has no flourishing leaves on its branches. Several metal bars give it support to keep it standing. No wonder the Sri Lankan government has added another golden fence outside the stone walls to protect it. This bodhi tree is not only a national treasure of Sri Lanka, it is also a permanent symbol in the mind of every Buddhist. We were delighted to honor the Buddha in this holy place.

In addition to the bodhi tree, Sri Lanka has another national treasure: a tooth of the Buddha, kept in the Temple of the Tooth in the city of Kandy.

Kandy: famous because of a tooth

In the Mahavamsa, which chronicles the history of Sri Lanka from the sixth to the nineteenth centuries, ancient monks told the story of the Buddha's tooth. In the early fourth century a.d., when India was facing internal unrest, Buddhism was challenged and persecuted by other religions. There was great concern for the safety of relics of the Buddha, especially a tooth rescued from the flames of his funeral pyre. Thus in 311, Princess Hemamla smuggled the tooth to Anuradhapura by hiding it in a hairpin that was adorned with cat’s-eye chrysoberyl gems. The hairpin became associated with the tooth and was also revered by the public.

We arrived at the temple at an unfortunate time. It had just been bombed by the Tamil Tigers, and it was still filled with smoke and guarded by armed soldiers. However, the temple was still open to the public, just as if no attack had occurred. Many people continued to come to worship, but it was very quiet. At given times, men in traditional dress struck drums and worshippers prostrated themselves. The faithful also offered flowers or sat and recited sutras. We were touched by their intense devotion.

In Sri Lanka, the Temple of the Tooth is a symbol of national unity, and control over the Buddha's tooth gains as much political respect as holding the national seal. Newly elected heads of government worship the Buddha's tooth in Kandy after every major election. Thus, the Kandy Esala Perahera, the traditional annual parade honoring the Buddha's tooth, has taken on new overtones. In addition to its original religious meaning, it has come to be used as a demonstration against political foes.

Harmony between monks and laypeople

There are 14 million Buddhists among a total population of 20 million. According to a conservative estimate, there are more than twenty thousand Buddhist monks, over five thousand Buddhist temples, and around three hundred Buddhist schools. The first Buddhist school in Sri Lanka was built in 1839. Following Sri Lanka's independence in 1948, the government upgraded the two largest local Buddhist colleges into Buddhist universities. They are expected to train monks who are also intellectuals.

In ancient times only monks were educated, but even today monks are still highly respected. A newly elected prime minister, for example, will prostrate himself before a senior monk in the temple and report on his plans for his future administration.

At Mihintale, I was told that monks in Sri Lanka emphasize the worship of the Buddha and the recitation of the Buddhist sutras. They do not meditate or practice Zen. They eat everything except eggs. You don't see many monks begging for food in the streets, because local villagers take turns providing the monks with breakfast and lunch. The Buddhist precepts are strict. Monks may start their religious life as early as the age of ten, and once they have become monks they cannot marry or have sexual intercourse with women. They are highly respected by the people and are even called "saints."

Just as we were about to leave the Kelaneya Temple, there was a strong fragrance of lotus flowers mixed with that of sandalwood incense in the hands of the laypeople. In a nearby temple, an old woman was teaching her grandson how to offer flowers before the Buddha's statue.

For over two thousand years, the people of Sri Lanka have preserved Buddhist thought and heritage through their daily activities. Permanently intertwined with the history of Buddhism, this piece of land will last and flourish forever because of the Buddha.