Heritage

Palace of King Parakramabahu the Great (වෛජන්ත ප්‍රාසාදය)

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View of the remains of the palace from front

This is a majestic palace built by King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186) with seven stories and is said to have 1000 chambers. Although the main building possibly couldn’t hold such a number of chambers, when you consider the whole palace complex it is thought that this number is a possibility.

Today you can see the massive walls over a meter thick going up to about 30 feet (9 meters) and the bottom half of the main stairway which led to upper floors. Inside the building, you can see parts of melted brick walls caused by intense heat when this was set on fire by Tamil invaders at the end of the Polonnaruwa era. Around the main palace, there are remains of more buildings where the ministers, soldiers, and servants lived.

Large holes in the wall probably held massive wooden structures that formed the floor of the upper levels. Even after facing such destruction by human hands and then by Mother Nature for 800 years, the plastering on these walls still remains in some places.

An architect’s impression of what it would have looked like can be seen at the Polonnaruwa Museum in a form of a miniature model.

Design of Plaster still existing after thousands of year - at the Palace of king Parakramabahu

Plaster still existing after thousands of year - at the Palace of king Parakramabahu

Melted walls of the Palace of king Parakrambahu when it was burned down by the Invaders

Also See

Map of Palace of King Parakramabahu the Great

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Driving Directions to Polonnaruwa Sacred City

The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, and the other part of Polonnaruwa remains the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.

Route from Colombo to Polonnaruwa Sacred City	Route from Kandy to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Through : Central Highway – Kurunegala – Dambulla Distance from Colombo :230 km Travel Time : 4.45 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map	Through : Matale – Dambulla – Habarana Distance : 140 km Travel Time : 3.5 hours Driving Directions : see on Google maps
Route from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa Sacred City	Route from Batticaloa to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Though : Maradankadawala – Habarana Distance : 103 km Travel Time : 2 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map	Though : Chenkaladi – Valachchena Distance : 97 km Travel Time : 2 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map

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Mihintale Slab Inscriptions and the Relic House (4වන මිහිඳු රජුගේ මිහින්තලේ පුවරු ලිපි)
The inscription of King Mahinda IV belonging to the tenth century is installed on the two sides of the entrance to this Vihara. The relic house is a square building. […]
Dambegoda Pillar Inscription in Maligawila (දඹේගොඩ ටැම් ලිපිය)
Established by King Mahinda IV (956-972) Dambegoda Pillar Inscription in Maligawila narrates the religious acts of the king and lays down rules for the administration of certain religious establishments. […]
Kotttapitiya Slab Inscription (කෝට්ටපිටිය පුවරු ලිපිය)
The Kotttapitiya Slab Inscription is considered one of the 14 valuable inscriptions of the Anuradhapura Era. The pillar inscription is believed to have been placed by King Mahinda IV (956-972) and is 6 feet in height and 1.5 feet wide. 45 lines of text have been inscribed on this pillar. […]
Ranawa Andiyagala Pillar Inscription (රණව ආඬියාගල ටැම් ලිපිය)
Placed by King Dappula IV in the early part of the 10th century, this Ranawa Andiyagala Pillar Inscription declares a sanctuary for Animal, Plants as well as Humans in the Namal Uyana area. Even royal guards were prohibited from entering this area to apprehend criminals. […]
Dutugemunu Pillar at Ruwanweli Seya (දුටුගැමුණු ශිලා ස්ථම්භය)
Many do not pay special attention to this pillar which is generally called "Dutugenumu Pillar" but the story behind this pillar is interesting as the construction of the Ruwanweli Seya itself. This pillar was installed by King Devanampiyatissa (250-210 BCE) on the advice of Mihindu Maha Thero. […]
Wadamunai (Wadamune) Megalithic Burial Site in Maduru Oya Valley
In this Wadamunai (Wadamune) Megalithic Cemetery, scattered across the landscape, lie between 15 to 20 graves. Unfortunately, the peaceful serenity of these resting places has been disrupted by thorn bushes, which have taken root amidst many of the tombs. Adding to the desecration, some graves have fallen victim to the destructive hands of treasure hunters, who have ransacked them in search of valuables. […]
Gurugalhinna Megalithic Burial Grounds
Gurugalhinna Megalithic Cemetery was initially uncovered and examined in 1896 by R. W. Levers. Subsequently, in the 1970s, Raja De Silva from the Department of Archaeology led excavations at Gurugalhinna. However, the burials at the site have not been scientifically dated. […]
Dalada Maligawa of Kurunegala Kingdom (කුරුණෑගල රාජධානියේ දළදා මාලිගාව)
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Ritigala Uththupitiya Archaeological Site
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Ulpange : Queen’s Bathing Pavilion (උල්පැන් ගේ)
The Ulpange or the Queen’s Bathing Pavilion is situated partly in the waters of the Kandy Lake and the other part on land near the Temple of the Tooth Relic. […]
Bahirawa Kanda (බහිරව කන්ද)
Rising up above the Kandy town its just 2 km from the Dalada maligawa the temple of the Sacred tooth relic. The name “Bahirawa Kanda” means the gnome mountain. […]
Teldiniya Bambaragala Monastery (තෙල්දෙනිය බඹරගල රජමහා විහාරය)
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Degaldoruwa Raja Maha Vihara (දෙගල්දෝරුව රජමහා විහාරය)
The Kandyan king, Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1780) was a great patron of the arts. It was during his time that some of the best paintings in upcountry temples were created. Among them, the Degaldoruwa Raja Maha Vihara paintings stand out. […]
Asgiri Maha Viharaya and the Adahanamaluwa Gedige Viharaya in Kandy (මහනුවර අස්ගිරි රජමහා විහාරය)
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Uda Aludeniya Raja Maha Viharaya (උඩ අළුදෙනිය රජමහා විහාරය)
The Uda Aludeniya Raja Maha Viharaya is located on the Kandy - Gampola road is said to be built by a person called Maayim Bandara during the reign of King Buvanekabahu IV (1341-1351) of Gampola Kingdom. […]
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Katupilagolla Ambalama (කටුපිලගොල්ල අම්බලම)
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Gadaladeniya Rajamaha Viharaya (ගඩලාදෙනිය රජමහා විහාරය)
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Minigamuwa Purana Tampita Viharaya (මිනිගමුව පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය)
Minigamuwa Purana Tampita Viharaya has been built during the reign of king Wimaladarmasuriya (1592 – 1604) of Kandyan kingdom for a priest called Buddhagammana thero. The Tampita Viharaya of the temple has been built by one of his students, Attadassi Thero. […]
Weligodapola Sri Dharmarama Pirivena Tampita Viharaya (වැලිගොඩපොල ශ්‍රී ධර්මාරාම පිරිවෙණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය)
Weligodapola Tampita Viharaya is one of the largest Tampita Vihara in Kandy district. The image house is 17 feet 7 inches long and 11 feet 9 inches wide. A 2 feet 5 inch circumambulating path is built around the image house. The front porch is 7 feet long. The whole Tampita Stucture is 29 feet 3 inches long and 18 feet 3 inches wide. […]

Also See

Map of Palace of King Parakramabahu the Great

Driving Directions to Polonnaruwa Sacred City

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