Tivanka Image House

 
















Largest among the brick - built shrines of Polonnaruwa. In the narrow antechamber, beautiful Devas (demigods), and the Bodhisattvas above, beckon the worshipper into the inner sanctum. Here stands the mighty Tivanka image of the Buddha, depicted in the 'thrice curved pose.

The Vatadage

This circular relic house possesses an elegance and beauty that is rare even in ancient Sri Lanka. In line with the outer circle of stone pillars is a tastefully ornamented screen wall patterned with four petaled flowers.
The flights of access stairs at the cardinal points are of stone and are beautifully carved. At the head of each flight is a Buddha statue in stone. The shrine is lavished with moonstones., guard stones and sculptured writings.
The shrine, like all dagobas in Sri Lanka, is oriented towards the cardinal points - north, south, east and west. Four Buddha statues face outwards, with their backs to the dagaba mound.

The Satmahal Prasada

A square pyramidal tower in seven tiers - a Dagaba of novel design. Each side of each tier is ornamented by a figure of a deity in an arched niche. The simple, stepped design is a very ancient form of architecture which occurs in the step pyramids of Egypt, and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Another building of this type occurs in Thailand in the monastery of Vat Kukut at Lamphun, and both are probably derived from an earlier Indian prototype.

Siva Shrine - Siva Devale No1.

A Hindu Temple of chaste and restrained line dedicated to God Siva. This temple dates to the later Polonnaruwa period, and was probably built during a period of Indian domination in the thirteenth century. A number of superb bronzes in mature Choler style were found at this temple, and these can be seen at the Colombo Museum.

Siva Devale 2

Past the north gate of the citadel lies the exquisite Hindu temple built entirely of stone. The building dates to the 10th Century AD, and is the oldest identifiable building in Polonnaruwa. The building is in an early and perfectly simple Choler style, and is one of the masterpieces of Indian art to be found at Polonnaruwa.

Royal Palace and Council Chambers

Parakramabahu's Palace must have been an imposing edifice, and the chronicles describe it as "seven stories high, furnished with a thousand chambers". Entering the palace from the south, you come to great hall (31 Metres long and 13 metres wide), which was probably an audience hall.
Across the way is the council chamber of Parakramabahu - embellished with lion portals, graceful pillars and a moonstone (a delicately carved stepping stone). The building is supported by powerful bas-relief elephants around the base. Each one is different from the next.
The structural techniques of this period were the same as those of the Anuradhapura period, but there was a greater use of lime mortar, which enabled the building of brick structures of dimensions never before
A little further on is the handsome royal bath, the Kumara Pokuna. This area was probably a part of the Royal Pleasure Garden of Parakramabahu. Water, which may have been perfumed, flowed into the bath from the sides, and the solid masses of stone ensured that even on the hottest day, the water was cool. Another feature of this garden was a shower bath, which was "like a cloud pouring forth rain by (reason of) the showers of water which flowed constantly from the pipes of the apparatus.

Ran Kot Vehera -The Golden Pinnacle Dagaba

Built by Nissankamalla. This Dagaba is the largest in Polonnaruwa and measures 550-ft. in girth and 180 feet high. Although it was completed by Nissankamalla, the dagaba was probably largely the work of Rupavati, one of Parakramabahu's queens.