Wandering around Polonnaruwa - Part 2

I had to keep moving around in the vehicle to diminish my urge to sleep after the quick swim in the lake and the satisfying lunch because we had a lot more sites to visit before the end of the day. If you’re wondering what I’m going on about, you should probably read my previous post which takes you through the first part of my day in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa.

Our next stop was the Vatadage, not to be confused with the Hatadage and the Atadage! The Vatadage is a circular relic chamber built enclosing a dagoba.  There are stairways on four corners of it that lead up to a seated statue of Lord Buddha. There are intricately carved guard stones on either and a moonstone at the foot of each stairway. 

The stairway at one of the four entrances to the Vatadage

The beautifully carved guardstone and moonstone

A side view of the stone carvings on the stairway

 

We then visited the Atadage and the Hatadage which were relic chambers built to house the Sacred Tooth Relic [a tooth of Lord Buddha]. The Atadage, with fine stone carvings was built by King Vijayabahu in the 11^th century and the Hatadage was built by King Nissankamalla in the 12^th century. You need to remove your hats and shoes when entering these chambers and the other temple ruins, so a word of warning: if it’s a hot day - wear a pair of socks to avoid hopping around the hot stone floor.

The Atadage Relic Chamber

 

A close up of the stand Buddha statue inside the Atadage

The standing Buddha Statue inside the Hatadage

 

The Satmahal Prasadaya, which looks a lot like a seven storied Egyptian Pyramid was what we visited next. Like the Siva Devalaya, it was a different type of building structure compared to the others in the area and is believed to be a stupa built for Cambodian Soldiers who were working under the King. Right beside it is the Gal Potha which translates to ‘stone book’ which literally is a stone book! The 26 foot stone slab has inscriptions that tell us about King Nissankamalla’s reign including his genealogy and the wars that he fought against invaders from South India.

 

The Sathmahal Prasadaya

The inscriptions on the Gal Potha

  

Next, we walked up to the Gal Viharaya [stone temple] which is the most popular site in Polonnaruwa because it shows the peak of artistic achievement in that era. It is a Buddhist shrine that dates back to the 12^th century and has large statues carved out of streaked granite stone of the seated Buddha, the standing Buddha and the reclining Buddha. I was a little disappointed when I saw them though, because they seemed a lot smaller than I remembered. It was probably because I was a lot smaller the last time I visited!

 

The seated Buddha statue

The standing Buddha statue

The reclining Buddha statue

 

The sun was starting to set and we were running out of time to see all of the things that we had planned to during that day so we decided to finish our day in Polonnaruwa by visiting the Kiri Vehera and the Lankathilake shrine. The Kiri Vehera [Milk Stupa] is a milky white dagoba that is the best preserved out of all of Sri Lanka’s unrestored dagobas. Built by King Parakramabahu’s consort, Queen Subhadra, the dagoba is known for its perfect proportions.

The Kiri Vehera

Close to the Kiri Vehera is the Lankathilake Shrine. This 55 foot high structure with brick walls and a colossal standing statue of Lord Buddha is one of the most breath taking Buddhist shrines in Asia. Although only the ruins remain and the head of the Buddha statue isn’t there, you could can’t help but feel enchanted by it. Even the 80’s pop group Duran Duran was impressed as they featured the shrine and a few other parts of Polonnaruwa in their music video ‘Save a Prayer’.

The grand Lankathilake Shrine

The standing Buddha statue sans the head inside the Lankathilake Shrine

 

Wandering around Polonnaruwa - Part 1

My excitement before going on a trip has now become something of a ritual. As usual, I didn’t sleep the night before because I was so eager to get started on my journey. I remember lying in bed at 2 AM thinking ‘go to sleep… you need to be up at 5 AM’, but I couldn’t find a way to get some shut eye till much later.

Polonnaruwa was our destination this time because I hadn’t been to see the ancient city in years. I had passed through several times but hadn’t stopped to visit the ruins and soak in the rich history. We stayed at Galkadawala, a three storied nature friendly cottage close to Habarana which was bordering a quiet lake.

Galkadawala

Our day around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Polonnaruwa, started with a visit to the Archaeological Museum which was where everyone has to get their entrance tickets to the historical sites in the city. I was slightly unimpressed by the museum but it was a good start to the day because it had scale models of what the temples and palaces would have looked like in their prime which gave me a better visualisation of how it all looked when I visited the sites.

The capital was moved to Polonnaruwa from Anuradhapura by King Vijayabahu I, the son of King Moggallana [remember him from my blog on the Sigiriya Rock Fortress?] after he defeated invaders from South India called the Chola’s. Although it was King Vijayabahu I that established the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, it is King Parakramabahu the great who is better known. It was during his reign that the capital flourished. He expanded the city and constructed many irrigation systems and monuments. There is an impressive eleven-foot stone statue of King Parakramabahu close to the new town so we visited that first. Pothgul Viharaya, the oldest library complex in Sri Lanka is located near the statue. It is a circular building and has small stupas in each of its four corners. There are also ruins of housing in which bikkus [Buddhist monks] would have resided. It was a promising start to the day that lay ahead!

 

The stone carved statue of King Parakramabahu

 

Me at the Pothgul Viharaya

Ruins of Bikku Housing

We then visited the Audience Hall and the Royal Palace. The Royal Citadel built by King Parakramabahu used to have seven stories and walls more than three metres thick. Although the remnants of the palace still stand tall, it’s not easy to imagine the seven floors that once stood when you look at the ruins as they are today. But visiting the museum at the start of the tour helped me to see how magnificent it would have looked back then and standing there, I could almost picture the activity that went on in and around those walls.

 

The Audience Hall

The stone pillars of the Audience Hall

The delicate carvings on the stone pillars

The front view of King Parakramabahu's Royal Palace

The back view of the Royal Citadel

 

We next visited the Siva Temple and Thuparamaya. The Siva temple, with its hindu style of construction was a contrast to the other stupas and monastery ruins that surrounded it. Thuparamaya, which was built during the reign of King Vijayabahu I, is a brick built gedige or vaulted shrine that is very well preserved. It is one of the few ruins in the country that has its roof still intact. 

The Siva Temple

The Hindu style of construction

 

Thuparamaya

Walking around in the April heat was starting to drain our energy even though it was only half a day that had gone by. We decided to take a break from the ruins and indulge in some lunch. We got rice and curry lunches packed in banana leaves and found a scenic spot on the edge of the Parakrama Samudra. The Parakrama Samudra [sea of Parakrama] was King Parakramabahu’s greatest construction. One of the largest manmade lakes in the world, spreading over an area of 5940 acres, the sea of Parakrama is one of the city’s most remarkable features. After a short dip in the lake, we ate our tasty Sri Lankan lunch complete with fried weva-maalu [lake fish]. The rest of our day was filled with more heritage and culture and will be revealed to you on my next post! Till then; live, love, dream and travel!

"A view I would kill my brother for"

Sigiriya 30^th June – 1^st July

When I was small, a popular family outing used to be to Sigiriya, the ‘Lion’s Rock’. According to my dad I was just below 3 years the first time I climbed the rock fortress. Although I don’t remember anything from that time, I remember bits and pieces from the many climbs after that. My favourite part of the whole ‘Sigiriya experience’ was when my dad used to tell us the story of Prince Kashyapa and how the fortress came to be. He used to start the story just after we crossed the moat and started walking towards the foot of the rock. The story was told in the same way every single time we climbed the rock and even though we knew almost exactly what he would say, we wanted to hear it anyway because it had become a tradition. This was the first time I went to Sigiriya without my parents and I had to maintain the tradition by retelling the story to Keith (a friend visiting from the UK). 

Our journey to the cultural triangle included some road rage [which is normal if you are familiar with the way people drive in Sri Lanka], lots of road trip food and lunch at a place called Hotel Sakura Blue which wasn’t really a hotel, just an interesting restaurant wedged between the road and a very green paddy field! 

Hotel Sakura Blue!

We started our walk towards the rock through a jungle which added an interesting start to the Sigiriya experience. This gave me plenty of time to polish my story for Keith. As we crossed the mote, I started, hoping that the way I said it was at least half as good as the way my father used to say it to us. 

The path through the jungle

The moat

The Grand Rock Fortress

So the story goes that Kashyapa, King Dhatusena’s bastard son was greedy for his father’s wealth and was angry that the rightful heir to the throne was his brother Prince Moggallana. Prince Kashyapa had one day asked the King, his father, to show him their wealth. The King then took him in a boat to the middle of a reservoir and took some water into his hands and showed it to him, saying ‘this is your wealth, son. Protect it like gold’. Prince Kashyapa, feeling like he had been made a fool of, seized the throne from his father with the help of his cousin Migara, the army commander which resulted in Prince Moggallana fleeing to India for safety. King Dhatusena was said to have been walled up alive by Kashyapa.

King Kashyapa, fearing an attack from his brother who wanted revenge, moved the capital from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya and built his safe fortress on the rock. Prince Moggallana returned as predicted with an army from India and declared war. History states that when King Kashyapa was riding to battle on an elephant, he changed course for a strategic advantage, but his army fled thinking that the king was retreating. Unwilling to face defeat, King Kashyapa committed suicide by pulling out his dagger and slitting his throat. Moggallana, taking his rightful place as king then moved the capital back to Anuradhapura.

Satisfied by the way I had told the story, I went on to telling Keith about the climb, the frescoes and the mirror wall. We hit a speed bump when we were half way up the rock when Keith admitted to being afraid of heights! It wasn’t the best day for someone with acrophobia to climb the rock because the wind was very strong. But he managed to power through as we inched along. The frescoes are a series of mysterious paintings of ladies [Sigiri Lalanawan in Singhalese] inside a cave. We then walked alongside the mirror wall which is made out of a type of porcelain and used to be so highly polished with bees’ wax that it held a mirror like reflection. Many visitors over time have written poems and notes on this wall that date back to the 8^th century. 

A few minutes after Keith confessed to being afraid of heights

The Frescoes

 

The hardest part of the climb, especially for people who are afraid of heights is the last bit, from the lion paws to the top. After a lot of convincing, Keith agreed to go right to the top and once he did, he said it was definitely worth it because of the magnificent view. Another one of my friends who climbed Sigiriya for the first time as well said that it was a view he would kill his brother for [not literally, of course!]. The indescribable sight from the top of the rock is one that leaves everyone speechless in appreciation. 

The Lion Paws

The Killer View

If you are ever planning to come to Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is definitely a must visit place. Not just for the story, the climb and the view, but for the whole Sigiriya Experience.

Feels like you're on top of the world!