Atadage at Polonnaruwa (පොලොන්නරුව අටදාගේ)

RATE THIS LOCATION : (5 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)

Loading...

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

• Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
• Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity

• Dalada Maluwa in Polonnaruwa
• The Ancient Capital of Polonnaruwa
• Anuradhapura – The city of the God King

Map of Atadage at Polonnaruwa

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.