The Thuparama Dagaba (04) 

The Thuparama was the first Buddhist building at Anuradhapura. When Mahinha told King Tissa, “There is nothing here for us to worship” the king sent to Emperor Ashoka for bodily relics of the Buddha. A novice monk, Sumana went to India and brought back the right collarbone of the Buddha. The collarbone was taken to the vicinity of the ‘House of great Sacrifice’; a pre Buddhist shrine erected by king Pandukabaya. Creepers and flowering plants were cleared from the site, and clay was brought from the tank near by and heaped up to the height of the state elephant. Afterwards a proper chamber was built to enclose the relics, and the Thupa was built over this foundation. It was called “The Thupa” as it was the only dagaba in the country. It was shaped like a heap of paddy, the earliest design of dagaba. Later King Tissa built a vihara (monastery) around it.