Blogs from Polonnaruwa , North Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

R: Polonnaruwa was a 90 minutes drive from Kandalama. We started the day with another Sri Lankan breakfast - hoppers, dhal, curries and bread. Mmmm. Then we hit the road. Polonnaruwa is an ancient city that was used by one of the kings of Sri Lanka as a capital when Annurhadpura became indefensible against the South Indian attacks. When this happened, they also had to move the sacred tooth relic which a new temple being built to house the tooth of Buddha that has been revered in the country for centuries. First stop - the visitors centre. Now we have learned that Ranjan doesn't like museums - perhaps because he wants to tell us all of the information himself. Perhaps he is worried that what they will say will be different to his version, or maybe ... read more

Woolly says – Someone, mentioning no names, came up with the bright idea of moving areas and catching a train to get there, what could be wrong with that I hear you ask, well nothing except it meant a 3.30am get up! Two of us in the party, again mentioning no names are not at their best at times like that, well unless I’m still partying from the night before! At the risk of two grumpy companions I thought it worth it and having got everyone up if not quite awake our prearranged taxi arrived on time to speed us to Colombo Fort railway station. Woolly says – I had thought the station would be empty at a silly time like that, but it was swarming with people trying to buy tickets and find the right ... read more

Day 5: Saturday 9 September - Anuradhapura – Polonnaruwa- Sigiriya This morning after breakfast we left Anuradhapura for the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa, a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. Polonnaruwa was the capital of Sri Lanka from 11th to the 12th centuries and is a well preserved city of stupas, frescoes and statues. Southeast of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, which was the media eval capital of Sri Lanka, and the ancient city is today one of the most beautiful centres of this island’s cultural heritage. When early in the 11th century AD Anuradhapura suffered one of the worst of its many Indian invasions, Polonnaruwa became the next of rule The second most ancient of Sri Lanka’s kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated the Chola invaders in 1070 CE to reunite ... read more

Pour ce blog, j’ai regroupé les photos des 3 sites historiques majeurs du nord du Sri Lanka. C’est ce que les spécialistes appellent le Triangle Culturel ; trois destinations envoûtantes et primordiales si l’on veut mieux connaitre et comprendre le Sri Lanka. Dans l’ordre, le plus petit site de Mihintale est un endroit saint fréquenté par de très nombreux pèlerins car c’est ici, au IIIe siècle avant J.C., que le roi Dewanampiya Tissa se convertit au bouddhisme après avoir rencontré Mahinda, le disciple de Bouddha venu d’inde pour répandre la doctrine pacifiste de son maitre. C’est en mémoire de cette rencontre que le premier stupa du Sri Lanka fut construit sur le merveilleux site rocheux de Mihintale. Le grand stupa domine la jungle des collines environnantes ainsi qu’une petite cité monastique (beaucoup d’anciens temples millénaires en ... read more

We left Lake Lodge at about 9.30 am and set off to the old medieval capital of Ceylon. Polonnaruwa was declared the capital city of Ceylon by King Vijayabahu I. Polonnaruwa became the second capital city of the country in 993 after the destruction of Anuradhapura. Whilst driving along Basil told us about some of the history of Sri Lanka. For example that an old name for Sri Lanka was Serendip. The name comes from the Tamil word Ceralamdivu, which in Sanskrit is Simhaladvipa and in Persian Sarandīp. Parts of Sri Lanka were under the rule of Tamil kings for extended periods of time in history. Kings of Kerala, India (Cheranadu), were called Ceran Kings and divu, tivu or dheep, which means island. The island belonging to the Chera King was called Cherandeep, hence Sarandib by ... read more