Stone carvings detail.

There are close shots I took of some stone carvings.

These are the detail of the royal court.

 

 

 This is called ‘Muragala’ in native language meaning guard made of stone. The stand at entrances of temples.

This is a type of carpet carved from stone called ‘sandakadapahana’ in native language meaning Half moon. These also situated at the entrances of temples. These symbols have been interpreted to be representations of some concepts in Buddhism. I photographed two of them, one very worn out but the other is in good condition.

This is a stone door frame.

A little Stone bridge between two parts of a building.

A Stone fence.

Upper part of a stone pillar.

Ruins in Polonnaruwa sacred city.

This is a statue of king Parakramabahu the great. He cultivated the area and built large tanks and Buddhist temples.

The Palace of king Parakramabahu.

This palace was built in his reign from 1153 to 1186. At that time this was 7 stories. Later by south Indian attackers these buildings were destroyed by setting fire. These are the remains of the palace. The grate brick walls.

 

These are the remains of the outer buildings of the palace.

 The Royal Court Of King Parakramabahu.

Stone carvings details of the Royal Court. All pillars, seats, steps, etc.. are carved from stone.

The sacred temple for Tooth Relic.

This is an ancient shrine which housed the tooth relic during the Polonnaruwa Kingdom called Watadage. 

These are the statues of Lord Buddha situated in this building carved from stone.

The sacred temple called Galviharaya meaning Stone Temple. Build by king Parakramabahu. All the statues are of Lord Buddha and carved from one large stone.

The tank build by king Parakramabahu called Parakrama Samudraya meaning Ocean of King Parakrama. The body of water covers 5350 acres with an average depth of 25 feet. Over 18000 acres of paddy land is supported by this reservoir.

This is a restoring ancient building. This is also a shrine built to house Tooth Relic by another king of this era.

Another shrine built to house Tooth Relic.