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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Ancient cities in Sri Lanka 02

Polonnaruwa City

Polonnaruwa Sri Lanka‘s medieval capital was established as the city of the land in 11th century A.D.Polonnaruwa replaced Anuradhapura as the capital city of Sri Lanka, Because of the invasion of south India.It was the capital of Sri Lanka from 11 AD to 13 AD.The important kings of, Polannaruwa period are, King Wijayabahu the first, King Maha Parakramabahu the first and King Nissankamalla.


When the South Indian Kings ruling the country, the Prince called Keerthi of the Sri lanka formed an army and came to attack. The South Indian King who occupied Anuradhapura. He defeated the South Indian King and become the King of Sri Lanka as Wijebahu the First.
He did not have time to develop the country but he united the country. Later the King had chance to the develop the country Wijebahu built his palace In Anuradhapura and he shifted the capital to Polonnaruwa.During Polonnaruwa period lot of developments took place. in irrigation paddy cultivation and agricultural Products.

Because of this foreign trade was done between South Asia, Arab and China. The most important King during this period was King Maha Parakramabahu the first he ruled tire country from 1153 AD to 1186 AD. During his period he built 165 dams 3000 canals, 163 major and 2376 minor tanks. Of all these the biggest tank was Parakrama Samadra.He was very interested in irrigation work and architecture. He united Sri Lanka in 1153 AD. He died in 1186 AD. After his death the Sinhalese kingdom began to break n due to civil war and foreign attacks.At the end of 13 century the glory of Sri Lanka faded. For 70 years Sri Lanka was ruled by Cholas from South India.

Vatadage


The Vatadage ( hale of the relic) near the entrance is a circular building with a dageba on concentric terraces with sculptured railings, the largest with a diameter of 18m. A superbly planned and executed 12th century masterpiece attributed to Naissankamalla (1187-1196), the Vatadage has modest proportions but remarkably graceful lines. It was almost certainly intended to house the Tooth Relic. There are impressive guard stones at the entrance of the second terrace and wing stones with makaras enclosing lion figures; the moonstone to the north entrance of the top terrace is superb. The dagaba at the center has four Buddha's (some damaged) with later stone screen.
The Vatadage is circular building on your left as you enter - is probably the oldest monument in Polonnaruwa, preceding by several centuries the establishment of the capital.
At the building's northern entrance is a guard stone (one of a former pair) preventing evil from entering. The moonstone at the second flight of steps is the best preserved in Polonnaruwa. In the center of Vatadage, within the concentric stone columns that once supported a conical roof, four Buddha status face the cardinal points, their backs to the sacred mound of brick all that remains of the dagaba.


Gal wiharaya

 
The Gal Vihara , also known as Gal Viharaya, is a rock temple of the Buddha situated in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa in north-central Sri Lanka. It was constructed in the 12th century by Parakramabahu I. The central feature of the shrine are four images of the Buddha, which have been carved into the face of a large granite rock. The images consist of a large seated figure, another, smaller seated figure inside an artificial cavern, and standing figure and a reclining figure. These are considered to be some of the best examples of ancient Sinhalese sculpting and carving arts, and have made the Gal Vihara one of the most visited monuments in Polonnaruwa.

The images of Gal Vihara follow a different style than the images of the previous Anuradhapura period, and show some significant differences. The identity of the standing image is subject to a certain amount of dispute among historians and archaeologists, some of whom argue that it depicts the monk Ananda rather than the Buddha. Each of the images have been carved in a way that uses a maximum possible area of the rock, and their heights seem to have been decided based on the height of the rock itself. Each statue appears to have had its own image house, as indicated by the remains of brick walls at the site. The Gal Vihara, or Uttararama as it was known during that period, was where Parakramabahu I held a congregation of monks to purify the Buddhist priesthood, and later drew up a code of conduct for them. This code of conduct has been recorded in an inscription on the same rock face containing the images of the Buddha.


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