Atadage at Polonnaruwa (පොලොන්නරුව අටදාගේ)

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Atadage Dalada Maligaya is the house of the tooth relic of Buddha built by King Vijayabahu I (1070-1110). This building is built on 54 stone pillars. The tooth relic has been kept on the second floor probably made out of wood. The access to the second floor is through a staircase. Few stone steps still remains of this staircase which led to the upper chamber of the building. There has been three Buddha statues at the bottom and only the center one remain today.

Also this is thought to be the only surviving building of the king Vijayabahu I. “Ata” in Atadage means eight. In this case this building would have been called by this name probably because of it housed eight relics including the main tooth relic or because it was completed in eight days. It is possible that this was built in eight days as there are indications that this building has used parts of other buildings in Anuradhapura era. The moonstone is a good example. This has been brought from Anuradhapura to be placed here.

The “Velikkara” inscription stone on the left to this building is of significance. This is written in tamil language and explains that the protection of the tooth relic was done by a hired tamil army and not by the Sinhalese.

There are six finely carved stone pillars at the entrance hall.

References

  1. Maldeniya, S.G. (2016) පොලොන්නරුව පැරණි ස්මාරකයන්හි චිත්‍රගත සැරසිලි මෝස්‌තර . Kadawatha, Sri Lanka: Sarath Gnanasiri Maldeniya.

Also See

Map of Atadage at Polonnaruwa

ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින් – Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map –
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The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Driving Directions to Polonnaruwa Sacred City (Atadage at Polonnaruwa)

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

Route from Colombo to Polonnaruwa Sacred CityRoute from Kandy to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Though : Central Highway – Kurunegala – Dambulla
Distance from Colombo :226 km
Travel time : 4.45 hours
Driving directions : see on google map
Through : Matale – Dambulla – Habarana
Distance from Colombo : 145 km
Travel time : 3.0 hours
Driving Directions : see on google maps
Route from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa Sacred CityRoute from Batticaloa to Polonnaruwa Sacred City
Though : Maradankadawala – Habarana
Distance from colombo : 105 km
Travel time : 2 hours
Driving directions : see on google map
Though : Chenkaladi – Valachchena
Distance from colombo :100 km
Travel time : 1.5 hours
Driving directions : see on google map

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