Polonnaruwa Visitor Information Centre and Museum

Polonnaruwa Visitor Information Centre and Museum Built with the help of the Dutch government, this centre, on the banks of the lake, uses designer displays, detailed descriptive texts and a five-minute video presentation to complement its collection of archaeological finds. With a huge scale model of the site, it brings Polonnaruwa's palaces and temples to life, and it is well worth visiting before you set out to explore the complex.

» The Royal Palace In the center of the complex stood the Royal Palace, built by Parakramabahu I and originally a massive wood and stone structure seven storeys in height, with a floor plan of 31m by 13m (100ft by 43ft).The upper floors were of wood, and only the massive, 3m (10ft) thick lower walls survive. Immediately to the east of the Palace stands the Audience Hall, used by the kings of Polonnaruwa to hear petitions from the nobles of the kingdom and to meet emissaries from foreign rulers. Superb stone lions seated at the top of the steps leading into the hall were symbols of royal power, as were the elephants which form a frieze around the lower part of the outer wall.Next to the Audience Hall is the Kumara Pokuna (Royal Bathing Pool) which was fed with water from the streamwhich runs through the palace grounds.

» Nissanka Malla's Palace Standing close to the shore of the lake, the ruins of the palace of Parakramabahu 1's successor, Nissanka Malla (1187-96), are less well preserved than those of the Royal Palace, but are attractively located. This palace group includes a royal bathing pool just south of the palace, and the King's Council Chamber, where the names of the king's ministers can be seen carved into the pillars which supported the chamber roof.

» Watadage (Quadrangle) A few yards northwest of the Siva Devale, the complex known as the Quadrangle stands within its own rectangle of walls, guarding the richest collection of ancient buildings in any of Sri Lanka's ruined capitals. In the southeast corner of the Quadrangle stands the Vatadage (reliquary), a circular building some 18m (59ft) in diameter, with four entrances leading to a central dagoba (shrine) which houses four seated Buddha images. Clockwise around this building, from the southwest corner of the Quadrangle, is the Thuparama, a fine example of the gedige style of temple architecture which flourished at Polonnaruwa, and the only one to survive with its roof still in place. West of the Vatadage is the Latha Mandapaya, a miniature dagoba encircled by stone columns topped with carved lotus buds, and surrounded by a carved stone trellis. Beyond this is the Atadage, the ruin of a tooth relic shrine built during the reign of Vijayabahu 1. Next to it is a cluster of small Hindu shrines. Immediately north of the Vatadage is the Hatadage, another tooth reliquary building which was constructed in the reign of Nissanka Malla, and to the east of this stands the Gal Pota, or Stone Book, a 9m (29ft) stone carving of one of the palm leaf books used to record Buddhist texts and royal genealogies. The inscriptions on it boast of the achievements of King Nissanka Malla, a man who seems to have been acutely aware of the long shadow cast by his great father, whose achievements he constantly sought to equal and outdo. Finally, in the northeast corner of the Quadrangle, stands the Satmahal Prasada, a six-storey, pagoda-like building which is unlike anything else in Sri Lanka, and has left archaeologists stymied as to its origin. Still within the perimeter of the city walls, north of the Quadrangle complex, are three more devales, including a Siva Devale to the west of the road, and on the opposite side of the road a Vishnu Devale and yet another Siva Devale, a stone temple which is the oldest surviving building at Polonnaruwa. South of it looms the Parakramabahu Vihara, one of the largest dagobas in Polonnaruwa.

» Alahana Pirivena Complex North of the city walls, and scattered close to the roadside over a distance of some 6km (4 miles) from the main site, are several striking buildings, some of which are in the process of restoration.

» Rankot Vihara The largest dagoba in Polonnaruwa at 55m (180ft) high, this building is the hub of the group of buildings known as the Alahana Pirivena ('Crematory College') group which formed part of a monastic college during the reign of Parakramabahu.

» Lankatilaka Gedige A huge temple built during the reign of Parakramabahu, the 17m (56ft) high walls still stand, but the roof is gone, as is the head of the colossal Buddha image that stands within. The walls are carved with friezes of Polonnaruwa in its golden age.

» Kiri ('White') Vihara Aptly named, this large dagoba's whitewashed plaster has survived seven centuries of abandonment to the jungle between the collapse of the Polonnaruwa kingdom and its rediscovery in the 19th century. It is the best preserved of the island's unrestored dagobas.

» Gal Vihara Also known as the Cave of the Spirits of Knowledge, this is one of the most important Buddhist shrines. It takes the form of three colossal Buddha images carved out of a granite cliff. Most prominent is the standing image, 7m (23ft) tall, which was at one time thought to represent Ananda, the Buddha's first disciple, but is now regarded as being a Buddha image like the others. Next to it is an enormous 14m (46ft) reclining Buddha. Two smaller, less skillfully carved Buddha images occupy niches in the rock nearby.

» Demala Maha Seya Abandoned before completion, this large mound is what remains of Parakramabahu's grandiose bid to build the largest dagoba in the Buddhist world. He died before the work was completed.

» Siva Devale Immediately north of the Royal Palace complex is the Siva Devale, a 13th-century Hindu temple dating from the period of south Indian conquest that followed the final decline of Sinhalese power in the north of the island. The technical skills of its masons are evident from the fine, precisely cut stonework of its walls. The brick domed roof, however, has not survived. There are several Siva Devales (Shiva Temples) at Polonnaruwa, reflecting the popularity of this powerful member of Hinduism's ruling trinity of deities.