Abhayagiri Museum

Anuradhapura

This museum, south of the Abhayagiri Dagoba, is arguably the most interesting in Anuradhapura and contains a collection of squatting plates, jewellery, pottery and religious sculpture from the site. There's a lot of information about the many monuments of Anuradhapura, and a small bookshop.

The Chinese-funded building commemorates the 5th-century visit of Chinese Buddhist monk Fa Xian to Anuradhapura. Fa Xian spent two years (412–13 AD) living at Abhayagiri, translating Buddhist texts that he later carried back to China along the Silk Route.

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