Just north of present-day Polonnaruwa town, 140km (90 miles) north of kandy are the ruins of ancient Polonnaruwa, which date from the late 10th century, when the Chola kings of southern India invaded Sri Lanka and conquered Anuradhapuraya. The invaders moved their capital to Polonnaruwa, strategically located for defence against attacks from the unconquered Sinhala kingdom of Ruhuna, in the southeast (which has lent its name to Sri Lanka's most visited national park). Their defences ultimately proved inadequate and in 1070 they were forcibly evicted from Polonnaruwa by the Sinhalese ruler Vijayabahu 1. Recognizing, however, that Anuradhapura's location made it vulnerable to any assault from southern India, he and his successors made their capital at Polonnaruwa, adding enormous temples,palaces, parks, gardens and huge tanks. By the 13th century AD, however, new waves of attacks from southern India forced the Sinhalese kings to abandon the north of the island, and the kingdoms of Kotte in the southwest (near modern Colombo), and Kandy, in the highlands, became the centres of Sinhalese power.

The ruins of the ancient city stand on the east shore of a large artificial lake, the Topa Wewa Lake, or Parakrama Samudra (the Sea of Parakrama), created by King Parakramabahu I (1153-86), whose reign was Polonnaruwa's golden age. Within a rectangle of city walls stand palace buildings and clusters of dozens of dagobas, temples and various other religious buildings.

A scattering of other historic buildings can be found to the north of the main complex, outside the city walls and close to the main road to Habarana and Dambulla To see many of the relics excavated from the site such as the stone lion which once guarded the palace of King Nissanka Malla, or the fine Hindu bronzes unearthed from the ruins of the Siva Devale Temple - you may have to visit the National Museum in Colombo, where they are kept. However, with the opening of the new Polonnaruwa Visitor Information Centre and its museum in 1998/9 some of the key exhibits were scheduled to return to the place where they were discovered.

Polonnaruwa Visitor Information Centre and Museum

Built with the help of the Dutch government, this centre, on the banks of the lake, uses designer displays, detailed descriptive texts and a five-minute video presentation to complement its collection of archaeological finds. With a huge scale model of the site, it brings Polonnaruwa's palaces and temples to life, and it is well worth visiting before you set out to explore the complex.

» The Royal Palace

In the center of the complex stood the Royal Palace, built by Parakramabahu I and originally a massive wood and stone structure seven storeys in height, with a floor plan of 31m by 13m (100ft by 43ft).The upper floors were of wood, and only the massive, 3m (10ft) thick lower walls survive.

Immediately to the east of the Palace stands the Audience Hall, used by the kings of Polonnaruwa to hear petitions from the nobles of the kingdom and to meet emissaries from foreign rulers. Superb stone lions seated at the top of the steps leading into the hall were symbols of royal power, as were the elephants which form a frieze around the lower part of the outer wall.Next to the Audience Hall is the Kumara Pokuna (Royal Bathing Pool) which was fed with water from the streamwhich runs through the palace grounds.

» Nissanka Malla's Palace

Standing close to the shore of the lake, the ruins of the palace of Parakramabahu 1's successor, Nissanka Malla (1187-96), are less well preserved than those of the Royal Palace, but are attractively located. This palace group includes a royal bathing pool just south of the palace, and the King's Council Chamber, where the names of the king's ministers can be seen carved into the pillars which supported the chamber roof

» Watadage (Quadrangle)

A few yards northwest of the Siva Devale, the complex known as the Quadrangle stands within its own rectangle of walls, guarding the richest collection of ancient buildings in any of Sri Lanka's ruined capitals. In the southeast corner of the Quadrangle stands the Vatadage (reliquary), a circular building some 18m (59ft) in diameter, with four entrances leading to a central dagoba (shrine) which houses four seated Buddha images.

Clockwise around this building, from the southwest corner of the Quadrangle, is the Thuparama, a fine example of the gedige style of temple architecture which flourished at Polonnaruwa, and the only one to survive with its roof still in place.

West of the Vatadage is the Latha Mandapaya, a miniature dagoba encircled by stone columns topped with carved lotus buds, and surrounded by a carved stone trellis. Beyond this is the Atadage, the ruin of a tooth relic shrine built during the reign of Vijayabahu 1. Next to it is a cluster of small Hindu shrines.

Immediately north of the Vatadage is the Hatadage, another tooth reliquary building which was constructed in the reign of Nissanka Malla, and to the east of this stands the Gal Pota, or Stone Book, a 9m (29ft) stone carving of one of the palm leaf books used to record Buddhist texts and royal genealogies. The inscriptions on it boast of the achievements of King Nissanka Malla, a man who seems to have been acutely aware of the long shadow cast by his great father, whose achievements he constantly sought to equal and outdo.

Finally, in the northeast corner of the Quadrangle, stands the Satmahal Prasada, a six-storey, pagoda-like building which is unlike anything else in Sri Lanka, and has left archaeologists stymied as to its origin.

Still within the perimeter of the city walls, north of the Quadrangle complex, are three more devales, including a Siva Devale to the west of the road, and on the opposite side of the road a Vishnu Devale and yet another Siva Devale, a stone temple which is the oldest surviving building at Polonnaruwa. South of it looms the Parakramabahu Vihara, one of the largest dagobas in Polonnaruwa.

» Alahana Pirivena Complex

North of the city walls, and scattered close to the roadside over a distance of some 6km (4 miles) from the main site, are several striking buildings, some of which are in the process of restoration.

History

While Vijayabahu's victory and shifting of Kingdoms to the more strategic Polonnaruwa is considered significant, the real Polonnaruwa Hero of the history books is actually his grandson,Parakkramabahu 1. It was his reign that is considered the Golden Age of Polonnaruwa, when trade and agriculture flourished under the patronage of the King, who was adamant that no drop of water falling from the heavens was to be wasted, and each be used toward the development of the land; hence, irrigation systems far superior to those of the Anuradhapura Age were constructed during Parakramabahu's reign, systems which to this day supply the water necessary for paddy cultivation during the scorching dry season in the east of the country. The greatest of these systems, of course is the Parakrama aasamudraya or the Sea of Parakrama, a tank so vast that it is often mistaken for the ocean. It is of such a width that it is impossible to stand upon one shore and view the other side, and it encircles the main city like a ribbon, being both a defensive border against intruders and the lifeline of the people in times of peace. The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was completely self-sufficient during King Parakramabahu's reign.

However, with the exception of his immediate successor, Nissankamalla I, all other monarchs of Polonnaruwa, were slightly weak-willed and rather prone to picking fights within their own court. They also went on to form more intimiate matrimonial alliances with stronger South Indian Kingdoms, until these matrimonial links superseded the local royal lineage and gave rise to the Kalinga invasion by King Maga in 1214 and the eventual passing of power into the hands of a Pandyan King following theArya Cakkrawarthi invasion of Sri Lanka in 1284. The capital was then shifted to Dambadeniya The city Polonnaruwa was also called as Jananathamangalam during the short Chola reign.