Weijantha Prasada
Palace of King Parakramabahu
This is a majestic palace build by king Parakramabahu with seven
stories and said to have 1000 chambers. Although the main building possibly
couldn’t hold such a number of chambers, when you consider the whole palace
complex it is thought that this number is a possibility.
Today you can see the massive walls over a metre thick going upto about 30
feet (9 metres) and the bottom half of the main stairway which led to upper
floors. Inside the building you can see parts of melted brick walls caused by
intense heat when this was set fire by Tamil invaders at the end of Polonnaruwa
era. Around the main palace there are remains of more buildings where the ministers,
solders and servants lived.
Large holes in the wall probably held massive wooden structures that formed
the floor of the upper levels.
Even after facing such destruction by human hand and then by Mother Nature for
800 years, the plastering on these walls still remains in some places.
An architect’s impression of what it would have looked can be seen at
the Polonnaruwa museum in a form of miniature model.
Photos
View of the remains of the palce from front |
View of the remains of the palce from front |
Remains of buildings surrounding the palace |
View of the place from the rear |
Original plastering with designs inside the walls at the palce - still intact. |
The large inscription at the entrance to the inner city where the palace is situated |
Entrance to the inner city where the palace |
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November 15, 2007
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