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Published: November 3rd 2016
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King or not?
Possibly just a wise man as people came from all around to get advice Day 4
After a slightly frustrating evening stuggling with the Internet, we finally managed to post a blog, but we only had a later start, so we weren't in any rush.
After breakfast, Indy met us at 9.30, brolly in hand, as it was trying to rain. As a precaution we had both rain jackets and the brolly (this is the London 2012 one that the waiters in King Coconut had tried to swop with me, as they had taken a great fancy to it)! Today was mostly going to be spent touring the ruined temples of Polonnaruwa, mostly Buddhist, but some Hindu. The first stop was to buy a ticket and look round the museum, which had some interesting artefacts in it, but rather oddly none of the text referenced the images that they had carefully numbered!
The first statue we went to see, which is on the front of the ticket book, could be the King or it might just be a sage, not a very Auspicious start, particulaly when it's not even mentioned in the guide book. Next stop was the Kings seven story palace, Vejayanta Prassada, of which the brick ruins of some of
Kings Palace
Where all his wives were the floors remain and you can see where the metal floor joists once were but it was destroyed by fire. There were some quiet small rooms, which no one knows if they were soldiers quarters but you wouldn't get a bed in it.
We then went to Kumara Pokuna (Princes Bath) which was restored in 1930, where the King took the waters with his wives. You coils see the channels that had been built to transport the water from the lake , also built by the King to help with rice cultivation, to the Bath, with the water coming out through the open jaws of crocodiles.
At the council chamber, where the King gave out punishments, were examples of the half moon stone entrance "mat" that you see in quite a few temples. These depict swans, lions and elephants and represent parts of your life. In all these places you are required to take off your shoes, and cover your shoulders as they are sacred places. Our guide had made us aware, there are signs everywhere, yet still some of our foreign friends failed to observe - imbeciles. These were closely followed by a fertility temple and Rankot
Vihara, the forth largest stupa on the island at 55m tall. We then returned to the Quadrangle to the Vatadage (Hall of the Relic) which contained 4 damaged Buddha and a fabulous example of the moonstone that we had seen previously. The tooth relic is in Kandy - visit to follow. The Hatadage, again with a Buddha at the end, and this time a large group of school children all watching us instead of their teacher. Gal Pota, or Book of Stone weighs 25 tonnes and was brought over 90km to its destination. It measures over 9m X 1.2m and the inscriptions praise the work of the King.
At Gal Vihara, one of the foremost attractions, and revered by Buddhists, there is a seated Buddha seated under a canopy and carved from an 8m high rock. There is a further seated Buddha and a 14m Buddha laid down in a pose known as Parinirvana, dead, as one foot is slightly more forward than the other. The Buddha to the left of the reclining one is said to be sad, his head is slightly to one side.
On the way to the Thanka Image House, we stopped at the
Lotus Pond, a small bathing pool which it is believed that there are more buried in the site. We had a short wait at the Image House due to a group of Thai people who were engaged in Buddhist worship inside. Indy took the opportunity to show us a couple of images on the outside that don't exist anywhere else on the building, a naked woman linking hands with a devil on a corner piece and a bee. Indy was very curious to learn the meaning, but as yet it is unknown. Inside there are some paintings on plaster like we had seen the previous day, no photos again unfortunately. The depiction of the Buddha is in the "thrice bent" posture, shoulder, waist and knee, normally associated with a female figure.
On our way to lunch, we stopped at the obligatory wood carving factory, where it appeared most of the pieces were made for export, and the only thing that we considered was far more expensive than we were prepared to pay. Lunch was at a Farmers House. Looking out over the fields where the water buffalo were grazing and in the distance a peacock was displaying. The curry
and rice was good, stuck to Dahl and red rice With popadoms and the chicken legs added some variety. Dessert was the usual fruit, with a fried ball of sticky coconut and buffalo curd with honey - a bit like greek yogurt.
We returned to the hotel and asked Indy if there was an alternative to the buffet at the hotel for an evening meal. He said he could take us to an alternative so would pick us up at 7.30pm. We essentially went for a snooze, and then a shower before dinner, and as I was getting out and Russ was getting in we had a Peeping Tom - well a monkey to be precise - how rude! Followed by a kitten! In the distance some elephants had come to the waters edge on the far side.
We decided to head downstairs to blog ( internet only in reception and bar) , and as we sat logging in, there was something of a commotion outside near the pool. It was dark and some guests were having dinner, and the waiters came over to tell us that an elephant was in the grounds. Russ went out in the
rain and he was a fair way off, by the time he came back with a bettet torch, the elephant had come closer, to the point where all the staff were outside looking! We completed more of the blog, and Indy came to collect us for dinner. He drove to Ariaya Rest House for dinner and we had rice and noodles with chicken, and it was oK, then back to the hotel to finish off the blog. 8am start tomorrow !
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