After analyzing the findings such as stone tools and other artifacts, prehistorians concluded that Polonnaruwa had human settlement for over ten thousand years from the present. It was a remote but active town during Anuradhapura period and became the capital of Sri Lanka in the eleventh century. By visiting Polonnaruwa you expect to see many monuments belongs to many different time periods but what you find at the site is something different. There are many structures built at the same time period that is from 11th to 13th centuries. Thus, Polonnaruwa is the best place to study the medieval art and architecture. Almost all the building shows the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism in the architectural design, sculpture, paintings, and outer & interior decorations.
We are planning to examine the Royal Palace, the Royal Council of Parakramabhahu and three image houses which are Thuparama, Lankathilake and Thivanka Image House in the city of Polonnaruwa.
The Royal Palace of King Parakramabhahu the great.
This huge brick structure had seven floors during the reign of king Parakramabahu and what we can find now at the site is just three levels. The rest of the building may have done with timber and as we can see there are some vertical and horizontal allocations for a timber structure. At the basement we can see brick walls with a width over one meter and a stone staircase to go upstairs. There is a layer of very thick lime plaster and some decorative moldings in the places where the effect of weather has been minimum over the time.
Main entrance to the palace is from the East and as visitors enter to the basement there is a big gathering hall in the size of 13x31.The remaining of a very advance water supply and drainage system is also there at the same site.
The Royal council.
This beautiful rectangular building is considered as the assembly hall for the political gathering and remind us the modern-day parliament. There are forty eight pillars find in the hall and seating for the social elites and officials were arrange beside the pillars. Main entrance is from North and it has two levels of steps to remind us the core teaching of Buddhism. At first level four steps to represent the four noble truth and then eight steps to represent eight-fold path thought by Buddha. At the entrance there are a moonstone, a guard stone and a balustrade. There is another moon stone at the next level too.
Very alive and moving freeze of elephants decorate the lower level of the council chamber and a layer of lions and dwarfs found above the line of elephants. The old roof of the building was placed at the top of the columns and there are many clay tiles in the area to suggest that it had a tile roof.
Thuparama Image House
This large image house built in Polonnaruwa period has a vaulted roof made of bricks that are bonded in lime mortar and considered as the only model remaining in Sri Lanka. Old name of this image house is unknown and two other monuments of same style, Lankathilaka and Thivanka image house found in Polonnaruwa. But both lost their vaulted brick roof which is popularly called as the Gedige. There are some seated and standing Buddha statues made of crystalline lime stones placed inside this image house. These statues have a layer of mica and they make a glittering effect when moon light fell upon them. Outside of the image house we find many Hindu divine figures and miniature palaces called vimanas. These are very fine architectural treasures to any visitor who is keen to learn in this regard.
Lankathilake Image House
Lankathilaka or Jewel of Lanka, is the biggest image house we find in old Sri Lanka, with a length of 38.0m and width of 20.0m. There is a huge standing Buddha image inside this structure and there are three veneration paths built at different height levels also found. Entrance is from East like all the other temples in Polonnaruwa. At entrance we find a moonstone, a guard stone, and a balustrade with some female figures. When you examine the outer surface, we find many Hindu Vimanas and divine figure carved out from the lime mortar walls.
The ancient engineers have used many different types of burnt clay bricks with variating thickness and shapes to build this huge image house.
Thivanka Image House
The entrance is from the East and there is a moonstone, a guard stone, and a balustrade at the entrance like the other image houses of Polonnaruwa. The roof is made with a brick vault and a part of it has been renovated under the supervision of archaeology department recently. Thivanka image house has a large Buddha statue with tree bends and some very fine wall paintings belong to the master tradition of Polonnaruwa. Thiwanka Image house has three veneration paths as we have seen at Lankathilake Image house. The outer walls have some Hindu divine figures and vimanas with two freezes of lion and dwarf figures at the base.
All the structures with very thick brick walls, the Royal palace and three image houses have same type of an entrance from the East. Inside of all three image houses we find Buddha statues and paintings and other sacred figures and paintings. But when you look at them from the outside, all you find is Hindu divine figures and vimanas. This appears like a very good defensive mechanism against invaders from South India.
There are many more ancient monuments like Watadage, the circular stupa in this green city. Come and explore Polonnaruwa.
