If you would like to read my full Sri Lanka travel blog click on this link

At the World Heritage Site of Polonnaruwa, ruins of an ancient city lay sprawling along the edge of a large lake. King Vijayabahu first made it the capital of a Sinhalese kingdom, relocating here from Anuradhapura in 1055. In the golden age of King Parakramabahu I (1153 -1186) the city was expanded enormously, and gloriously transformed with the addition of palaces, temples, monasteries, ornamental ponds, baths, and a huge tank (reservoir) covering over 2,500 hectares.

The Polonnaruwa ruins are reminiscent in parts of the Khmer temples in Cambodia and Laos, but boast a greater variety of architectural style and building functionality. Parakramabahu's royal palace is particularly impressive, the massive weathered brick walls standing ten feet thick and two storeys high and believed to have supported another five storeys made from wood. North of here is a sacred quadrangle of important religious buildings, most notably the graceful circular Vatadage, or relic house. Polonnaruwa's largest stupa (dagoba in Sinhalese), the Rankot Vihara, was built by Nissanka Malla, Parakramabahu's successor, in early Anuradhapura style and stands 54m high. The most celebrated site in Polonnaruwa, however, is Gal Vihara known for its four large rock-cut images in a perfect state of preservation; there are two sitting Buddhas, one standing, and one reclining – all carved from the same large granite rock face. Each Buddha at one time had its own separately covered brick-built shrine which must have made for a fascinating façade given their different sizes and orientations.