If you are looking for the emblematic picture, a hallmark of Sri Lanka, representing the appearance of this particular country and no other world region:

It’s the white dome of a brick dagoba on a dark granite rock boulder. Similar kinds of boulders and monad rocks, which are a characteristic feature of Sri Lanka’s lowlands, can be found in all parts of the former South-Continent called Gondhwana, namely in South America, Africa, Australia and India. But none of these world regions is Buddhist. So you will rarely find white dagobas built on those continents and subcontinents.

Dagobas (stupas) from earlier Buddhist periods can be found in India, of course, but they are earthen mounds or elaborate stone monuments, usually not painted with white colour - and actually not as many or as densely distributed as in Sri Lanka. However, there is at least one country with even more stupas than Sri Lanka. Many, many, really many more "Chedis" - the Southeast-Asian form of dagobas - are hallmarks of Myanmar, formerly known as Birma. But they are not built on dark rock boulders. Thailand and Myanmar and other Buddhist areas of Asia were not part of the archcontinent Gondhwana. Myanmar’s stupas are golden and not white and their shapes do resemble bells and not hemispheres. But there is a hemispheric form of Chedis in Myanmar, too.

To come to a conclusion: These hemispherical forms are called “Ceylonese” or “Sinhalese” in Myanmar. The reason is: They were built by a group of monks that introduced a monastic reform from Sri Lanka. Monks from Myanmar were studying in Sri Lanka and documented their loyalty to the country of that form of Buddhism they considered to be more pure and unadulterated. Accordingly they started creating dagobas in a more Sinhalese fashion. The most famous examples are the Sapada brick pagoda in Bagan (Pagan) bearing the name of the reform monk who returned from Sri Lana, and the even more eye-catching hemispheric and glimmering white Kaunghmudaw-Pagoda in Sagaing near Mandalay.

Nevertheless, it is not built on an even eye-catching dark rock, which can be seen at many places in Sri Lanka - and only in Sri Lanka.

The Dematamal Vihara is situated in a paddy area at the road from Butttala to the famous Maligawila Buddha Statue. The temple lies about 4 km from the Buttala town. The historic brick stupa of Dematamal Vihara is said to date back to the earliest Buddhist period of Sri Lanka. According to local beliefs, the monastery was once the place where Prince Saddhatissa was hiding after his army had been defeated by his elder brother Dutthagamani in a war of succession to the throne. It was with the help of the monks that the two brothers finally were reconciled, which was a historically significant precondition to reconquer the Tamil controlled Anuradhapura in the northern heartland by joint Sinhalese forces from the south.

The Kandarodai stupas are the remnants of a Buddhist temple and burial place right in the centre of Jaffna Peninsula. The stupas are from the ancient period. But according to legend, in the 16th century the famous Jaffna king Sangili harassed Buddhist monks, 60 Bhikkus left Jaffna to migrate to India. When they stayed in Kandarodai, they received alms-givings from locals. But the mushroom curry was poisoned and all of monks died. Afterwards burial stupas were constructed enshrining the relics of those monks.

As in the case of many other Sinhala terms, there are various transliteration of the name of this stupa, e.g. Mirisaweti or Mirisawatiya. Why do we choose „Mirisavaeti“? This is the spelling that comes closest to the correct spelling. The „ae“ is a typical Sinhala vowel, it’s a sound similar to the „a“ in English „share“ or „bear“.  Transliterations of foreign words with „ae“ are well-known in English, if those words are of Greek or Latin origin, for example haemoglobine or archaeology. So why not use the „ae“ for transcribing a Sinhala word? But it has to be conceded, this is not a common of spelling Sinhala terms in English.

In a way, Mirisavaeti was built to commemorate the capture of Anuradhapura by King Dutugaemunu, who previouslyy had ruled only over the southern part of Sri Lanka. When he took a refreshing bath after his victory, he placed his royal lance with Buddhist relics at the site of the later dagoba. The relics were given to him by Buddhist monks to ensure his victory and the reconquest of Anuradhapura and reestablishment of Buddhist rule in the Sinhalese capital. Returning from his bath, the king could not not move his lance any more. This was taken as an indication that the relics had decided where to be kept finally. Accordingly, the stupa was errected at the spot to enshrine them here.

Polonnaruwa has two landmarks, one of them being the famous group of rock-carved Buddha Statues known as Gal Vihara. Another perfect symbol of Sri Lanka’s medieval capital is the Vatadage, a circular temple, which belongs to the Quadrangle, Polonnaruwa’s most important group of buildings. The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is not huge in size, but the design is impressive, both the layout of the entire structure as well as its decorative details.

The Vatadage has been built during the reign of Polonnaruwa’s most famous king, Parakramabahu I (1153-86), who is also called Parakrambahu the Great. The circular temple is believed to have sheltered Sacred Tooth Relic, the Sinhalese national palladium, which had been kept in the nearby rectangular structures previously.

The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is the best preserved example of a circular temple, round edifices being a characteristic feature of ancient Buddhist architecture in Sri Lanka. Such circular temples contain small stupas and are therefore also called Chetiyagaras, which translates to stupa houses. Four Buddha statues in the gesture of meditation (Samadhi Mudra) are seated around it, facing the cardinal directions. Some archaeologists have suggested that the building once carried a wooden roof. The Vatadagae in Polonnaruwa has two stone platforms, they are decorated with highly elaborate stone carvings such as friezes and guardstones and moonstones.

The Jetavananarama was a Buddhist monastery during the mid and late Anuradhapura period. Actually, it was the latest of the three giant temples of Anuradhapura, which were also the three largest religious institutions and, apart from the king, the most important land holders with areas of agriculture distributed all over the ancient Sinhalese kingdom. In contrast to the other two pivotal monasteries of Anuradhapura, viz. Mahavihara and Abhayagiri, the youngest one, Jetavanarama, was built in a systematical and symmmetrical ground plan, with the stupa on a wide courtyard in the very centre of  a rectangle of other ceremonial buildings and monks‘ resdidential quarters

With a total height of    122 m and covering 23,3 hectare, the Jetavanarama Dagoba from the 4th century AD is the largest ancient stupa, and with almost 100 million bricks, it’s also the world’s largest construction built of baked stone.

The Jetavanarama of Anuradhapura is not to be confused with the Jetavana monastery in India, which is situated just outside the ancient city of Savatthi (Srvasthi). The Jetavana in northern India was the place where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings and discourses.   

The foundation of the Jetavanarama in Aniradhapura was the result of sectarian differences between Buddhist monks and even of a sacrilige. According to Buddhist monastic rules incorporated in the Vinaya part of the Holy Scriptures, a consecretad territory of a Buddhist monastery can not be rededicated without the consent of the monks inhabiting it. The Jetavanarama was founded on parts of the temple land of the older Mahavihara, which was expropriated against the resistence of the Mahavihara monks and without proper ceremonies as a result of a conflict between King Mahasena and the clergy of the Mahavihara.

The Mahiyangana Rajamaha Viharaya is situated just to the south of the town, not far from the Mahaweli River. The stupa is of utmost significance for Sinhalese Buddhists, as it is believed to be the first one built in Sri Lanka and marking the spot where the Buddha when visiting the island of Sri Lanka for the first time, gave a sermon to prepare the island for the future adoption of Buddhism. The speach was given to demons, one of which was Sumana, the deity of Adam’s Peak, who became a guardian deity of Buddhism. The first stupa in Mahiyangana is said to habe been erected by Suman. The relic chamber of the stupa was the finding place of paintings from the medieval period, which are now in a museum and not in situ any more.

Tissamaharama is the major starting point for wildlife safaris in Sri Lanka’s most famous national park, Yala, officially known as Ruhuna National Park. However, Tissamaharama is an attraction in itself. It is known as the 'Anuradhapura of the South', as it has been the capital of the a southern principality or kingdom during most of the time of the Anuradhapura period. Although not many ancient remnants can be seen that are of interest for sightseeing, Tissamaharama is an important excavation site for scientists. For tourists, several large stupas are worth noting, although theor appearance is that of modern reconstructions. Due to the several reservoirs in the surroundings, Tissamaharama is a good place for bird watching, too.

The Kotavehera in Dedigama in Sabaragamuwa Province is the largest stupa in Sri Lanka’s wetzone, which corresponds to the west and southwest of the island. It’s situated halfway between Pinnawela Elephant Camp and the river rafting destination Kitulgala, but not many tourists find their way to Dedigama. The Kotavehera stupa was built by King Parakramabahu as a memorial at his place of birth, as Dedigama was the capital of his father  Manabharana, who was one of the three independent rulers of the island in the mid 12th century.

The Kotavehera is one of Sri Lanka‘s very few stupas the relic chamber of which was opened by achaeologists with special permission of the government. Actually, the brick cnstruction consisted of were two stupas with separate relic chambers, an earlier one was overbuilt by the large Kotavehera of Parakramabahu. The findings were spectacular. Some of them were brought to the National Museum in Colombo for safekeeping, whereas others are on a display in a newly erects archaeological museum close to the Kotavehera stupa.