Cultural Triangle
A medieval capital you can cycle around in a morning
Sri Lanka's second ancient capital was at its height in the twelfth century under Parakramabahu I, and its ruins are unusually compact, well-labelled and shaded. The Gal Vihara's four colossal Buddha figures, carved from a single granite face, are among the finest stone sculpture in South Asia.
Polonnaruwa rewards a bicycle. The site is flat, the ruins are spread over a few kilometres of quiet lanes under trees, and you can cover the Royal Palace, the Quadrangle, the Rankot Vehera and the Gal Vihara comfortably in three to four hours.
The Quadrangle is the dense heart of it — the Vatadage's circular relic house, the Hatadage, the stone book of the Gal Pota — and repays slow looking. The Gal Vihara sits at the north end and is usually kept for last.
Beside the city lies the Parakrama Samudra, a vast twelfth-century reservoir that still irrigates the district. Elephants come down to drink on its fringes in the late afternoon, and the bund is a good place to end the day.
Go early. There is little shade on the open platforms by mid-morning, and the site's own toque macaques become increasingly interested in unattended bags as the day warms up.
Hot and dry May to September. The north-east monsoon brings real rain from late October into December.
Polonnaruwa is in Cultural Triangle.
Advisory door-to-door estimates for typical road conditions, not live routing output.
Ride the shaded lanes of a twelfth-century capital, from the royal palace through the Quadrangle to the colossal rock-cut Buddhas of the Gal Vihara, with a guide setting the order to keep you ahead of the heat.
Good value
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