Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka, dating from the eleventh to the first quarter of the thirteenth century A.D. While Anuradhapura was still flourishing as the first capital, Polonnaruwa "served as a fortified outpost where Sinhala garrisons camped during perods of internal strife between the rivals of Anuradhapura in the north and Mahagama in the south." The city was burned by invaders from Southern India and abandoned for about 600 years before it was rediscovered.

We were introduced to an excellent guide the moment we arrived. He took us through a short tour of the museum to orient us and then we walked through the ancient ruins, where these pictures were taken. Before leaving, I purchased The Cultural triangle of Sri Lanka, where the quote above was taken from. This book was published by Unesco in 1993 and I was able to find only 1 copy available on Amazon by a private seller. It's a wonderful book and I'm very glad I purchased it there since now I know it's really unavailable here.