Polonnaruwa is an ancient city with some melted preserved ruins despite the damage inflicted by invaders. This ancient city of antiquity was created by the Sinhala Monarch Parakramabahu in the 1^st and the 12^th century. If you have aesthetic sensitivity to the architectural design of an old civilization is sure to the group.

The Chola invaders from South India practiced Brahmanism and built temples to Lord Shiva and Buddhist monasteries that stand in silence emanate the zealotry of the invaders testifies the close ties that existed between the two Buddhist kingdoms during the Polonnaruwa period. The fine bronze statues from the temples of Lord Shiva are kept and preserved in the National Museum Colombo. If you are interested in antiquity, you can see them in the Museum.

When the Sinhala King moved to the new capital Polonnaruwa from Anuradhapura, the sacred Bodhi tree could not be moved. Thus the sacred Tooth Relic became the repository of Sinhala Sovereignty. The “Atadage”, the temple of Tooth Relic is the most impressive structure among the remains of Polonnaruwa.

You can see many Islands’ greatest historical treasures in Polonnaruwa. One of these is the man-made enormous Reservoir “The Parakrama Samudra” which covers a surface area of 15sq.km s. its retaining wall is 14km s in length and 12m in height.

The large expanse of water dominates the whole Polonnaruwa.