Polonnaruwa Kingdom

Polonnaruwa also referred as Pulathisipura, and known as Vijayarajapura in ancient times is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. 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.

The second oldest of all Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first established as a military post by the Sinhalese kingdom. It was renamed Jananathamangalam by the Chola dynasty after their successful invasion of the country's then capital, Anuradhapura, in the 10th century. The Ancient City of Polonnaruwa has been declared a World Heritage Site.

Polonnaruwa Old Town
Polonnaruwa Old Town is where the well preserved ruins of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, a world heritage site, are located. The ruins are clustered over an extensive area which runs s about 4km from north to the south. Among the multitude of ruins, Citadel, Quadrangle, Gal Vihara (Sinhala: stone temple) and Lanktilaka, Gal Potha (Sinhala: stone book), The Menik and Rankoth vihara Buddhist shrines, Alahena Pirivena monastery, Lankatilaka (Sinhala: Ornament of Lanka), Kiri Vehera stupa, Tivanka-patamaghara image house Buddhist shrine, are must visit attractions.
To the west of the ancient city is inland-sea like Parakrama Samudra (Sinhala: sea of Parkramabahu) man-made lake built in the 13th century and rehabilitated in 1950s.

Polonnaruwa Museum
Polonnaruwa Museum is the ideal starting point in touring the ancient city of Polonnaruwa: the impressive presentation at the museum imparts a wealth of knowledge that would help come to grips with numerous ruins, preserved ruins, restored ruins and rehabilitated irrigation network that consists of man-made rainwater reservoirs and canals that distribute water to the agricultural district of Polonnaruwa.

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