Madagama is the name of a small village just east to Horowupotana, which is the most important town between Mihintale and Trincomalee. Kanda means hill and Viharaya is the name of Buddhist monasteries. The temple called Madagama Kanda Viharaya is situated at a typical steep monadnock in the plains of northern Sri Lanka, a smaller version of Sigiriya, so to speak. The place is almost unknown to travellers. Those who find their way to the Madagama Kanda Viharaya are amazed. Some of the caves at the northern foot of the hill are still inhabited by reclusive monks. The ancient rock shelters at the steep southern escarpment can be reached only by climbing a little bit. The beauty of this site in particular is overwhelming. Madagama Kanda Viharaya is the perfect off-the-beaten-path destination for heritage travellers.  

Habarana is a small city situated in the centre of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle. Due to its location just halfway between Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa and between Kandy and Trincomalee, Habarana is a convenient location for package tourists who want to discover the cultural and natural attraction of the Cultural Triangle on day trips, instead of changing the hotel every second day. Habarana has a choice of mid-range hotels in particular. Besides being not far from World Heritage Site Sigiriya, Habarana is also situated in the immediate surroundings of elephant national parks and ecoparks and also offers traditional village life excursions with oxcart and elephant back ridings.

Medirigiriya to the north of Polonnaruwa had been an important Buddhist monastery already in the Anuradhapura period, before becoming of historical relevance for the Polonnaruwa kingdom. The archaeological site of Medirigiriya is most famous for an excellent specimen of a Vatadage, an ancient Sinhalese circular temple. A Vatadage was a circular building with a wooden or tiled roof housing a small stupa. The round structure in Medirigiriya is from the late Anuradhapura period. Actually, the Vatadage of Medirigiriya is one of the three best-preserved edifices of this architectural style in Sri Lanka, the others being the older Vatadage of Tiriyaya and the much younger Vatadage of Polonnaruwa. In contrast to the said two other Vatadages, the circular temple of Medirigiriya has not an impressive outer circular wall any more. But is has the best-preserved rings of stone columns. The inner circle has 16 pillars and the outer two rows consist of 16 and 20 pillars respectively. Indeed, no other round temple in Sri Lanka has more pillars than the Medirigiriya Vatadage. On the four sides of the stupa surrounded by the siad three rows of columns are four beautiful seated Buddha still in situ. What contributes much to the charm of the Medirigiriya Vatadage is that this circular temple of Medirigiriya is placed on a small rock. Visitors have to climb 31 stone steps to reach the natural temple platform.

Polonnaruwa has two landmarks, one of them being the famous group of rock-carved Buddha Statues known as Gal Vihara. Another perfect symbol of Sri Lanka’s medieval capital is the Vatadage, a circular temple, which belongs to the Quadrangle, Polonnaruwa’s most important group of buildings. The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is not huge in size, but the design is impressive, both the layout of the entire structure as well as its decorative details.

The Vatadage has been built during the reign of Polonnaruwa’s most famous king, Parakramabahu I (1153-86), who is also called Parakrambahu the Great. The circular temple is believed to have sheltered Sacred Tooth Relic, the Sinhalese national palladium, which had been kept in the nearby rectangular structures previously.

The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is the best preserved example of a circular temple, round edifices being a characteristic feature of ancient Buddhist architecture in Sri Lanka. Such circular temples contain small stupas and are therefore also called Chetiyagaras, which translates to stupa houses. Four Buddha statues in the gesture of meditation (Samadhi Mudra) are seated around it, facing the cardinal directions. Some archaeologists have suggested that the building once carried a wooden roof. The Vatadagae in Polonnaruwa has two stone platforms, they are decorated with highly elaborate stone carvings such as friezes and guardstones and moonstones.

Gal Viharaya literally translates to „rock monastery“. The name refers to Sri Lanka’s most famous group of rock-cut Buddha statues, which is part of the archaeological park of Polonnaruwa. Originally the rock images were part of image houses, for veneration inside shrine rooms. But the walls of those buildings almost disappeared. Now the rock scultures seem to be part more of a free-standing rock than of a temple. The original name of Gal Viharaya was Utthararama, which simply means Northern Monastery, as the location is at the northern end of Polonnaruwa’s main axis of edifices.

The Gal Viharaya group of rock-cut statues consists of a large seated sculpture in meditation posture, one more seated Buddha of smaller size inside an artificial cave room, a standing figure with an unsual Mudra gesture and a superb reclining figure depicting the death of the Buddha which is atttaining supreme Nirvana (Parinibbana). The decorations of the large seated Buddha show signs of Mahayana influence, whereas the Parinibbana-Buddha at the opposite end of the group highlights the Theravada character of the sanctuary.

The standing sculpture in between them is often said to depict the disciple Ananda, but it’s more likely, this is a Buddha statue, too, as it was venerated in a separate shrine room and therefore not part of the image house of the reclining Buddha. This arrangement would make little sense, if the standing sculpture was inteded to depict Ananda venerating the recling Buddha. The Svastika Mudra of the standing sculpture is a gesture of veneration. A Buddha usually is the most venerable being not venerating others. However, the Buddha can pay respect to symbols of Nirvana, for example he can be shown in a humble gesture in front of a Bo-tree. The Svastika gesture of veneration – often taken as indication that this is an Ananda image and not a Buddha image – may be rare, but it is not completely unknown of Buddha statues.


We have a comprehensive article on the Gal Vihara group of rock scilptures in Polonnaruwa here...

Kumara Pokuna translates to prince‘s pond. Indeed, this seems to have been a royal bath, as the pond is located close to Parakramabahu’s palace and audience hall just outside the walls of the citadel in Polonnaruwa. Royal baths were often included in the layouts of ancient palaces in South Asia. Kumara Pokuna is located below the level of the citadel, allowing water from the nearby canal to flow easily into the basin. As the entire citadel, the Prince’s Pond was constructed during the period of King Parakramabahu the Great ( 1153-1186). The original name of the pond was "Sila Pokkharani" according to the Chulavamsa. The Kumara Pokuna is square in shape and has various levels. Water flows in to the pond via two Makarara sprouts which are located besides the entrance.

A pavilion located near the pond is said to have been used as changing room. Due to ist prestigious decoration with a frieze of lions, it seems more likely that this charming terrace once served as the platform of a royal summerhouse.

The Jetavananarama was a Buddhist monastery during the mid and late Anuradhapura period. Actually, it was the latest of the three giant temples of Anuradhapura, which were also the three largest religious institutions and, apart from the king, the most important land holders with areas of agriculture distributed all over the ancient Sinhalese kingdom. In contrast to the other two pivotal monasteries of Anuradhapura, viz. Mahavihara and Abhayagiri, the youngest one, Jetavanarama, was built in a systematical and symmmetrical ground plan, with the stupa on a wide courtyard in the very centre of  a rectangle of other ceremonial buildings and monks‘ resdidential quarters

With a total height of    122 m and covering 23,3 hectare, the Jetavanarama Dagoba from the 4th century AD is the largest ancient stupa, and with almost 100 million bricks, it’s also the world’s largest construction built of baked stone.

The Jetavanarama of Anuradhapura is not to be confused with the Jetavana monastery in India, which is situated just outside the ancient city of Savatthi (Srvasthi). The Jetavana in northern India was the place where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings and discourses.   

The foundation of the Jetavanarama in Aniradhapura was the result of sectarian differences between Buddhist monks and even of a sacrilige. According to Buddhist monastic rules incorporated in the Vinaya part of the Holy Scriptures, a consecretad territory of a Buddhist monastery can not be rededicated without the consent of the monks inhabiting it. The Jetavanarama was founded on parts of the temple land of the older Mahavihara, which was expropriated against the resistence of the Mahavihara monks and without proper ceremonies as a result of a conflict between King Mahasena and the clergy of the Mahavihara.

Maradankadawala is a village halfway between Anuradhapura and Dambulla, it’s located at the mainroad A9, which crosses the centre of the island. At the northern end of a village, a dead-end road branches off and leads to the local cave temple, which is known as Gallenvihara. The name of this temple translates to „rock monastery“.  Gallenvihara belongs to the Asgiriya branch of the Syam Nikaya. Some of the caves are still used by the monks, others are typical Sinhalese painted caves for worshiping Buddha images. They are also decorated with sculptures of humans and demons.

Although not the largest ancient reservoir of Sri Lanka, the Kala Wewa near Kekirawa is the most famous irrigation project of the Sinhalese civilization. Built by King Dathusena in the mid 5th century, the Kala Wewa allowed to diverte water from the Kala river to the area of Anuradhapura, which until then had been irrigated mainly be the waters of only one river, the Malwattu Oya. For that purpose, the „Giant Canal“ Yoda Ela, also known as Jaya Ganga, carried excess water from the Kala Wea along an 87 km long single banking canal to the Tissa Wewa in Anuradhapura, almost doubling the amount of water available in the heartland of the ancient Sinhalese civilization. The circumference of the Kala Wewa, which covers 18 square kilometers, is 65 kilometers. The length of the dam is almost 7 km. According to the Mahavamsa, a chronicle from the 6th century, the construction of Kala Wewa is intimately connected to the story of Sigiriya. Today’s travelers see the Kala Wewa when visiting the close-by Aukana Buddha, which is the largest standing Buddha from ancient times that can be seen in the Cultural Triangle. 

Dimbulagala, though not far away from Polonnaruwa, is rarlely visited by tourists. This contributes to ist charme. Most people don’t know that Dimbulagala is not a small attraction but crowded with charming places of interest. The ridge is a good place for a hike. A new dagoba that can be climbed offers a perfect 360 degree panorama to the plains of Polonnaruwa and Maduru Oya National Park. The living monastery just below it is one of the largest in the Cultural Triangle and the monks are open-minded and welcome foreign visitors who find their way to this remote side. The Vihara has a small museum an colourful caves. However, the main attraction of Dimbulagala is the ancient monastery of Namal Pokuna. It played an important role in the development of Theravada Buddhism in the Polonnaruwa kingdom as well as in Southeast Asia. The ruins are a pleasant sight. At the opposite southern side of the ridge are remnants of ancient cave paintings, the Pulligoda frescoes.