planted by King Devanampiya Tissa on a high terrace about above the ground in the Mahamevnāwa Park in Anuradhapura and surrounded by railings. Contributions Several ancient kings have contributed in developing this religious site. King Vasabha (65 - 107 AD) placed four Buddha statues in four side of the sacred tree. King Voharika Tissa (214 - 236 AD) added metallic statues. King Mahanaga (569 - 571 AD) constructed a water canal around the sacred tree and King Sena II (846 - 866 AD) renovated it. The present wall was constructed by Ilupandeniye Athtadassi Thero during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (r. 1747-1782), to protect it from wild elephants which might have damaged the tree. The height of the wall is ; and in thickness; its length from north to south is and from east to west . The first golden fence around the sacred tree was constructed by some Buddhist followers in Kandy under the guidance of Yatirawana Narada Thero in 1969. The iron fence below the above golden fence was created by people of Gonagala under the guidance of Yagirala Pannananda Thero. Ancient statues Two statues of Buddha can be seen in the image-house; a stone-standing-statue is in the right side of the stone wall. The cobra-stone is a very rare creation, showing the embossed figure of cobra. Several monolith heads with plain incisions are in this religious site. The Principal Buddha of the Śrī Mahā Bodhi Shrine The largest – and also in other aspects the most spectacular – stone image of a seated Buddha in Sri Lanka is located since about the sixth century on the premises of the Śrī Mahā Bodhi Shrine at the Mahāvihāra complex at Anurādhapura. The statue is carved out of a single slab of dolomite marble, measures 3.3 metres in height and is since 1911 installed in the image-house located east of the sacred Bodhi-tree. This Buddha is presumably the only known Sri Lankan Buddha seated in the “diamond posture” (vajraparyaṅkāsana) with both soles pointing upwards, and displaying the gesture of touching the earth (bhūmisparśa-mudrā or māravijaya-mudrā). All other seated Sri Lankan Buddhas usually rest in the “noble posture” (sattvaparyaṅkāsana) with the right leg placed upon the left leg with only the sole of the right foot visible, displaying instead the gesture of meditation with both hands placed in the lap (dhyāna-mudrā). The gesture of touching the earth (bhūmisparśa-mudrā) symbolizes