Polonnaruwa: a day to explore the historic city

For this 8th day in Sri Lanka, we continue to explore what we call here the "cultural triangle", between Kandy, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura – an area that also includes Dambulla (where we were based) and Sigiriya (which we will discover a little later).

Visiting an ancient capital always allows you to better understand the history of a country, and skipping Polonnaruwa would have been a real shame.

Getting to Polonnaruwa from Dambulla

We were leaving by tuk tuk from our guesthouse in Dambulla to reach the bus stop towards the city centre where we had been the day before. The worst part was that it would cost us more to make this short journey (200 Rupees) than the bus to Polonnaruwa (180 Rupees for 2).

After a drive of about 1h30, we passed in front of the artificial lake dating from the time when Polonnaruwa served as the capital of the Kingdom, this large water reservoir called Parakrama Samudra covering 15km² was the largest irrigation project of King Parakramabahu.

The journey to Polonnaruwa was not the most pleasant given how crowded the bus was… standing for about 3 hours!

Arriving at the bus depot near the historical sites, we negotiate the price for a day of tuk (1700 Rupees). We first go to buy Tickets to visit the site, $25 each, a not insignificant budget… Then under a crushing heat, we began this day in the council chamber (Raja Sabahawa) of this same king Parakramabahu.

The historical site of Polonnaruwa

The ancient city was the second capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom after the destruction of Anuradhpura at the end of the 200th century. Polonnaruwa therefore developed for nearly XNUMX years, between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, before moving to Dambadeniya.

To briefly mention the rest, the capital changed 4 more times until 1592, seeing the Sinhalese settle in Kandy to isolate themselves in the mountains in order to protect themselves from European invasions (first Portuguese then Dutch), before the total colonization by the British at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.

The Polonnaruwa site is divided into several sub-sites covering approximately 122 hectares, so it is best to have a vehicle.

The Council Chamber and the Royal Palace

The Polonnaruwa era was a period when Buddhism was already well established, so most of the monuments are for religious purposes, except here, since it is, as the name suggests, a council chamber, a remnant of the seat of power of the kings.

The architectural style is influenced by Hindu style. A common point to many of the monuments, typical of Sri Lanka, are these famous "moonstone" (sandakada pahana) or moonstone in good French. They symbolize Samsara, a Buddhist term literally meaning "cycle of existence" or "continuous movement". These semi-circular stones are placed like a "doormat" (that's not its function, let's agree!) at the foot of the stairs of the monuments, themselves bordered by sculptures, often in the shape of lions.

First ruin dating from the court of King Parakramabahu, here the council chamber.

Opposite the council chamber is the Palais-Royal, which was described as a particularly imposing building for the time, being 7 floors high. It included an audience hall for interviews with the king and more than 1000 rooms!

Destroyed and burned during a South Indian invasion at the beginning of the 3th century, today only the equivalent of 55 floors remains standing and the trace of XNUMX rooms. We can also see some patches of the surface that covered the red bricks, as well as traces of burns.

The imposing royal palace of King Parakumba (also spelled Parakramabahu), dating from the 7th century. Originally it had 3 floors, but today only the ruins of the first XNUMX remain.

The palace did not last long, as it was destroyed by the Indian invasions of the early 1215th century (1236-XNUMX). You can still see traces of burning on the interior walls.

The site called the Quadrangle

We continue our discovery of Polonnaruwa and join the next site called Quadrangle (or Dalada Maluwa in Singhalese), literally meaning square courtyard or quadrilateral. The site is surrounded by a small wall and placed on a small plateau which is accessed by a few steps, of which there is still at the foot a basin which was surely used to wash the feet before accessing the complex which included several temples.

The entrance leading to the group of temples called the "Quadrangle".

 Vatadage and Hatadage

Immediately up the stairs on your left is the Vatadage, a temple of a rather unusual shape, as while stupas are usually round, temples are more rectangular, which is not the case here.

With a diameter of 18m, it is said to have once contained the famous relic with the tooth of the Buddha. At the foot of the staircase near the access to the site is a moonstone considered to be the most finely carved in Polonnaruwa.

The temple of Vatadageya ("circular house of the relic") or Dalada Maluwa ("great hall of the relic") was, as its name indicates, the place where the famous relic containing the tooth of Buddha was kept at the time when Polonnaruwa was the capital of the Kingdom.

These stones located at the bottom of each staircase are called "moonstones", it is a bit like the equivalent of today's "Welcome" mats, not to rub your feet, but to send a welcome message to visitors.

Obviously "jealous" of the historical trace that King Parakramabahu had already left here (he also assassinated his son, who reigned for only 5 days, to seize the throne...), King Nissanka Malla had the Hatadage built just opposite the Vatadage, a more "classical" temple of rectangular shape, but originally on 2 floors, and he placed the tooth relic there.

The name comes from “Hata” which means 60 and dage which means relic. So why 60? Legend has it that the temple was completed in just 60 days… More commonly, it is believed that it contained 60 relics/statues of Buddhas.

Nissanka Latha Mandapaya and Gal Pota (the book of stone)

Of course, he did not stop there, as he also created a hall bearing his name, the Nissanka Latha Mandapaya, with its 8 uniquely shaped granite pillars supporting a roof.

He also had this statue of a bodhisattva built who had lost his arms ("the one who follows the path of the Buddha") and which could also be a portrait of King Nassanka (but he had arms, eh) as that was not enough to demonstrate His "Greatness", he had his exploits engraved on a stone, this stone of 8m by 1m40 relates the reign of King Nassanka and his vision of the legitimacy of the throne (you have to be Buddhist to reign in Sri Lanka).

The columns really had a special design.

Next door is a rather unique building in Sri Lanka, a 7-storey pyramid shape, the Satmahal Prasada is a construction similar to what the Mon ethnic group (who were at the origin of the expansion of Buddhism in Burma and Thailand, paradoxically they have practically disappeared from Thailand today...) have built in Chiang Mai and Lamphun.

Atadage

This building is the only one attributed to King Vijayabahu I still standing today. It must be said that his reign goes back a long way, since his capital was Polonnaruwa (1070-1110). It has 54 stone pillars that supported a floor that has now disappeared. Its particularity is that it was the first temple of the sacred tooth, a relic of the Buddha.

The Thuparama Gedige

Finally, the last building and not the least, the Thuparama was used to house images of the Buddha, but its particularity is to have admirably resisted 900 years of history (approximately, because the date of its construction, nor who exactly is at the origin, could not be established), it still has its roof made of semi-cylindrical bricks. The structure is made of 2m thick walls, this surely played on the solidity of the temple.

The temple was also under renovation during our visit.

Under renovation during our visit, the Thuparama is an impressive building that has survived 900 years of history, those 2 my thick walls probably have something to do with it too, this one has the particularity of still having its semi-cylindrical brick roof.

Path between 2 temples.

Rankot Vihara and Alahana Pirivena Temples

The term Vihara is a Sanskrit term for a Buddhist temple. And these 2 temples are worth a look, both for their features making them imposing buildings, even 2 years after their creation.

Rankot Vihara

Rankot Vihara is the fourth largest stupa (locally known as dagoba) in the country and, at 4 m high and 55 m in diameter at its base, it is also the second largest building in Sri Lanka still intact after 168 years.

The construction is said to have been carried out by King Nassanka Malla, or at least he was the one who had it completed (a sign indicates the exact position where he personally observed the workers at work).

The stupa rests on a brick terrace, itself made entirely of bricks. It also has 4 vahalkadas (one at each cardinal point) which have above all a decorative function, but also serve for the deposit of flowers as offerings.

Here we are at the stupa "with the golden summit" such is the meaning of its name Rankoth Vehera. Its name was formerly Ruwanmali dagoba probably in reference to the stupa of Anuradhapura, the Ruwanveli Seya which looks very similar to it. It is the largest stupa of the Polonnaruwa era.

Around the stupa there are still several prayer rooms.

After that, we let ourselves be tempted by a drink break, while we saw this good lady waving her arms to make us come, she who does not see many people on this day and endures the heat as best she can. Relatively quick break, because there is still a lot to see.

Seeing the lady trying to accost us and given the heat, we accept a little drink break to cool off and catch our breath a little.

Next step, Alahana Pirivena, a monastery complex including the Lankatilaka Vihara.

The Alahana Pirivena Stupa

We enter the area called Alahana Pirivena, an 8-hectare temple complex built during the reign of King Parakramabahu (who reigned between 1153 and 1186 shortly before the previously mentioned King Nissanka Malla, who succeeded him from 1187 to 1196 to provide historical context).

This stupa is "only" 24 m, but is the second largest in Polonnaruwa today. Called Kiri Vehera, it is in rather exceptional condition for a monument that has spanned more than 900 years of history.

Lankatilaka Vihara Image House

I'm really struggling to find a precise translation for "image house" but as its name suggests, it is a temple whose purpose is to "house" ("house") representations ("image") of Buddhas, generally in the form of statues.

Moreover, the main standing Buddha remaining at the back of the temple attests to this. Unfortunately, it "lost its head", according to archives, including photos, the statue was still complete at the beginning of the last century. The particularity of this temple is the imposing entrance with its thick walls and the current height of 17 m, knowing that it originally had 5 floors.

The entrance to the impressive Lankatilaka Viharaya. Its architecture is relatively unique, with its 16 m walls, the temple had 2 floors of which you can still see the stairs leading to the upper floor. Inside there remains a 12 m statue of Buddha which unfortunately lost its head during the last century.

We ended this day of visiting Polonnaruwa with the most famous monument of the place, if not the most famous in Sri Lanka, the Gal Vihara.

Gal Vihara: Stone Buddha Sculptures

This is a group of 4 sculptures carved from the same block of granite. The 4 sculptures are 2 seated Buddhas, one standing 7 m and one in a reclining position (in the process of reaching nirvana) 14 m long. The big disappointment was that the authorities, in order to preserve the site as best they could, added a metal roof which disfigures the site quite a bit in my eyes... The finesse and quality of these sculptures have made the site famous.

The site is guarded at all times and women are not allowed to approach it beyond a security cordon… We hadn’t really looked at the news and I later learned that just behind the Gal Vihara there is an old auditorium that is also worth a look. Note that monkeys hang around the place.

Today the statues are covered with a large metal roof...

This 14m long elongated statue represents the Buddha at the moment of his death (in other words at the moment when he was about to enter Nirvana).

This Buddha in the sitting position known as the lotus is carved in a cavity also made by man and surrounded by frescoes.

Caught in the act…

This concludes our visit to Polonnaruwa.

Evening in Dambulla

After that, we reached the bus stop via our tuk tuk, which will have a brief technical problem with its machine. Then we pay like this morning the 180 Rupees to return to Dambulla, our base for visiting the cultural triangle.

Along the way, we stopped for a break, the opportunity to meet some locals and take portraits and photos of the area. Once back, we would later go and look for somewhere to eat in the vicinity of our Green Hut.

We found a restaurant that looked a bit fancy but empty. We were alone, but it was good and reasonably priced for a restaurant of this standing, 875 Rupees, I had taken sandwiches for a change from curry…

On the way back to our guesthouse, a lady called out to us and offered us something to eat. We explained to her that we had just had dinner, but she still invited us to come into her living room. After a brief discussion, we promised to come back the next day to test it out, because we still had one night left in Dambulla before leaving for Sirigiya.

Because the next day, another day planned in the cultural triangle, Anuradhapura.

A little problem?

Return to Dambulla.

In front of the evening restaurant.

Not many people inside…

At a resident's house inviting us to come in.

Appointment is made. Thank you, ma'am!