The medieval capital Sri Lanka's best-preserved ancient city
Polonnaruwa is where Sri Lanka’s medieval golden age still stands in stone. More compact and better preserved than Anuradhapura, its royal city rewards a slow bicycle ride: palace walls seven storeys high in their day, the exquisite circular Vatadage relic house, and ancient reservoirs so vast they’re called seas. The masterpiece is Gal Vihara four serene Buddha figures carved from a single granite ridge, counted among the greatest works of South Asian art. UNESCO-listed and utterly atmospheric.
Save Gal Vihara for last light the giant Buddhas glow gold and the tour buses are gone.
Four monumental Buddhas carved from one granite wall
A perfectly circular relic shrine, richly carved
Remains of a legendary seven-storey palace
The vast 12th-century "Sea of Parakrama" reservoir
The city's largest stupa
Towering brick shrine with a headless colossal Buddha
Polonnaruwa lies in the Polonnaruwa District, in Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle region.
Tell us your dates and we'll build Polonnaruwa into a journey shaped around you.
