Our breakfast at our Dambulla hotel was served on the balcony just outside our room. That turned out to be the nicest thing about our stay as the room itself was very barebones and no towels or sheets were changed during our three-night stay. The room did have AC, though, unlike the original room I had reserved for only $15 a night!
Rohan drove us past Parakrama Samudra Lake on the way to the archaeological park. The lake, he said, was the biggest in Polonnaruwa and was often inhabited by crocodiles.
A brief tuk tuk ride away from the Royal Palace was the area known as the Sacred Quadrangle, a compact group of ruins in a raised area bordered by a wall. This most concentrated collection of buildings we could find anywhere in Sri Lanka's Ancient Cities of Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, and Anuradhapura was described as an archaeologist's playpen!
The Gal Pota or Stone Book was a humungous stone representation of an ola book with the longest stone inscription in Sri Lanka. Much of the late 12th century stone extolled the genealogy and heroic deeds of King Nissanka Malla but also included the fact that the 25-ton slab had been transported from Mihintale, an astonishing 100kms away!
In the center of the Image House was an exquisite statue of a Bodhisattva.
Next up was the Atadge built by King Vijayabau the Great (1055-1110), and the oldest building in the Quadrangle. Originally also a two-storied building, the upper floor was reserved for the Tooth Relic and the Bowl Relic. That floor was probably made of timber and the roof had wooden beams and was covered with clay tiles. Near the building was an inscription that said the protection of the Tooth Relic had been entrusted to soldiers who were the king's private guards.
A short stroll away was Vatadage or the circular relic house that has been rightfully described as one of the architectural marvels at Polonnaruwa and probably one of its most photographed temples. The magnificent two-tiered structure was built part of stone and part of brick.
I was so happy that we had made prior arrangements to hire Rohan, our hotel owner, to be our tuk tuk driver for the day so he could take us to Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka's capital from the 11th to the 13th centuries, a short period but which still allowed a flourishing of Buddhist arts and architecture on the central plains located about 90 minutes northeast from Dambulla.
The vendor was selling king coconuts which many people liked as drinks.
Rohan suggested we start our visit at the site's Archaeological Museum. I wish I could show you its wonderful selection of bronzes including outstanding Shiva statues we saw as well as the model of the monks' hospital and medical instruments but it, too, had a no photograph policy, unfortunately. I was only able to surreptitiously take these photos to remind us of what we viewed.
9th century dwarf frieze:
This was the first time I can remember seeing a bathroom that was for locals only. It made me feel uncomfortable that the one for foreigners one was evidently superior and therefore unsuitable for Sri Lankans.
Leaving the museum, the exit was through a small nature reserve.
Kings ruled Sri Lanka's central plains from Polonnaruwa 800 years ago when it was a thriving commercial and religious center. The South India Chola dynasty made its capital at Polonnaruwa in the late 10th century after conquering the 4th century site at Anuradhapura because Polonnaruwa was a strategically better place to guard against a possible rebellion from the Sinhalese kingdom in the southeast. Another benefit - Polonnaruwa had fewer mosquitos! The kingdom reached its zenith in the 12th century when huge buildings were erected, beautiful parks were planned and a 25-sq-km tank was created. It was so large it was called the Parakrama Samudra or Sea of Parakrama, the one we just saw.
As the archaeological park was divided into five groups over a wide area, we were happy to have Rohan be our driver and guide rather than rent a bicycle on that hot day. We stopped first at the Royal Palace which was said to have seven stories. What remained looked more like cavity-ravaged molars! The roof in this main hall which had 50 rooms was supported by 30 columns.
Glass protected part of the 12th century ruins.
The grounds were extensive in the Royal Palace Group.
Also in the Royal Palace Group was the Audience Hall which was notable for its frieze of lions, each in a different pose.
The entrance to the Audience Hall had fine lion statues at the top of the steps.
Atop the Hall:
Sideways view of the Hall:
Just outside a corner of the place grounds was the Bathing Pool which was built in the latter part of the 12th century.
Two of the pool's crocodile spouts still remained.
It was amusing to watch the iguana scoot around the pool looking for some shade!
Nearby were the foundations of the pool's changing room.
Over time, the buildings all likely housed the Tooth Relic, the most important Buddhist religious site in Sri Lanka now located in Kandy and that we had visited a few days before. The buildings in the Quadrangle were shrines for the relic or connected with its worship and were built by successive kings to show their personal devotion.
The Gal Pota or Stone Book was a humungous stone representation of an ola book with the longest stone inscription in Sri Lanka. Much of the late 12th century stone extolled the genealogy and heroic deeds of King Nissanka Malla but also included the fact that the 25-ton slab had been transported from Mihintale, an astonishing 100kms away!
Satmahal Prasada was a terraced compound of successively receding levels shaped like a stepped pyramid. Now six stories, it used to consist of seven.
As we walked around it, we checked out the crumbling figures in its niches.
If you believe local lore, Hatadage was erected by Nissanka Malla in just 60 hata or hours! Though it was now in poor condition, it was originally a two-story building.
The stunning entrance to Hatadage with its guardstones:
More lion friezes adorned the base.
The interior of Hatadage with the stairway to the second floor that may well have been home to the Tooth Relic.
Among the stone slabs on the walls were three inscriptions of King Nissaka Malla which described his altruistic activities and advice given the community of Buddhist monks.
Once we ventured further inside, we came across some marvelous statues.
In the center of the Image House was an exquisite statue of a Bodhisattva.
Next up was the Atadge built by King Vijayabau the Great (1055-1110), and the oldest building in the Quadrangle. Originally also a two-storied building, the upper floor was reserved for the Tooth Relic and the Bowl Relic. That floor was probably made of timber and the roof had wooden beams and was covered with clay tiles. Near the building was an inscription that said the protection of the Tooth Relic had been entrusted to soldiers who were the king's private guards.
The decorations on the pillars were outstanding.
The 12th century Velaikkara Memorial Slab recorded the oath taken by the Velaikkara royal guards to protect the Buddha Tooth Relic and the properties no matter what happened after an earlier rebellion was quelled.
The unique structure called Latha Mandapaya consisted of a lattice stone fence that looked all the world like a wooden split rail fence that surrounded a very small dagoba, commonly referred to as a shrine for sacred relics. The relics in this instance were curved stone pillars shaped by lotus stalks and topped by unopened buds. It was said that Nissanka Malla liked to sit within the enclosure to listen to chanted Buddhist texts.
At the southern end of the Quadrangle was Thuparama Gedige, a hollow Buddhist temple with thick walls. It was the only one with its roof still intact.
We were so relieved the inner chamber was delightfully cool as my phone and, thus, my camera, had been turning off constantly in the 90-degree plus temperatures outside! As no shoes could be worn to enter any of the temples or shrines, we had been constantly leaving them outside each of the sites. It was so scorching hot by the time we got toThuparama, I remember we had to run like mad to the temple after leaving our shoes a fair distance away. Of course, we'd never thought of bringing socks with us that day to protect our tootsies!
I was so glad we 'bothered' to remove our shoes here as the carved Buddhas inside were beautifully executed.
The second terrace had four separate entrances flanked by particularly fine guardstones.
The guardstones in turn led to the central dagoba where there were four outward-facing Buddhas at the top of each stairwell.
While Steven waited for me in some hard to find shade, I removed my shoes and entered the temple so I wouldn't miss any of the incredible Vatadage. I was so glad that some Indian tourists kindly took my photo by one of the Buddhas. They were so friendly and wanted to chat but I recall hopping around on the blistering hot pavement wanting to escape as quickly as I could! It was so hot and humid that day my hair became so curly I looked like an old version of Little Orphan Annie!
There was no wonder Polonnurawa had been declared a UNESCO-listed site in 1982 as the Quadrangle alone was worth the trip to Polonnaruwa and we hadn't even seen the rest of the archaeological park.
Next post: Polonnaruwa's Northern Group temples.
I have been interspersing writing posts about our unexpectedly short trip to Sri Lanka and then India in March with finally finishing the posts on our trip last fall to Ireland and the UK. Here's a link to my most recent post on our trip across the Highlands of northern Scotland through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable while also searching out my paternal history from the early 1700s:
Posted on May 15th, 2020, on a gloriously sunny day in Denver. To all the essential heroes working on the front lines during this pandemic, Steven and I thank you.
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