Polonnaruwa to Anuradhapura

Today was spent at the ruins of Polonnaruwa. In the 10th century the Chola dynasty from Thanjavur in southern India conquered northern Sri Lanka, capturing Anuradhapura and built Polonnaruwa as their capital. The Sinhalese king Vijayabahu drove the Cholas from Sri Lanka in 1070, and he continued the development of the city as his capital. By the early 1200’s the capital was moved to Kotte (Colombo) as a further defense against Indian invasion. Polonnaruwa fell to ruins.

The town’s museum was spectacular- dividing the ruins into sections and providing scale models of what they once looked like. After the museum, we grabbed a guide to take us through the site. More Hindu influence- the lingum site is where the local women bring their prayers for a child. To have a child, the woman brings a coconut as an offering to the lingum. They smash it open on the ground- if it breaks into small pieces, they take the coconut milk and pour it over the lingum and then wipe it on their faces. She leaves one piece of the coconut on the lingum, eats one piece and takes the remaining pieces home for her family. If it doesn’t break into small pieces, no children. We also saw a “prosperity pot”- the pot that we bought the other day.

Other interesting trivia:
* In the 1st Century, the first Buddha statues were created with definite Roman influences- the hair of Apollo and Roman togas.
* The grandson of its founder founded Barobudur in Indonesia.

We spotted an eagle in its’ nest and a monitor lizard (and more SL staring frogs).

We had lunch at the local “no menu” café- more rice and curry. Rice with 7-8 small dishes of veggies. Then it was on to Anuradhapura. The road was bad—and the cars’ shocks weren’t up to the task. It was a long bumpy ride. The hotel in Anuradhapura was virtually empty- so it was John and Debbie having drinks on the terrace alone, listening to the bird menagerie in the hotel garden.