Things to do in Polonnaruwa

Four colossal Buddha images carved from a single granite wall, among the greatest masterpieces of ancient Sri Lankan sculpture.

A towering brick image house whose roofless walls soar around a great headless standing Buddha, one of Polonnaruwa's most dramatic ruins.

A serene circular relic house crowning a low rock hill about 30 km north of Polonnaruwa, ringed by concentric rows of stone pillars.

A dry-zone national park around an ancient reservoir, famous for 'The Gathering', when hundreds of wild elephants converge on the drying lakebed.

An exquisite circular relic house at the heart of the Sacred Quadrangle, regarded as the finest surviving example of vatadage architecture in Sri Lanka.

The largest stupa in Polonnaruwa, a great bell-shaped brick dome modelled on the ancient dagobas of Anuradhapura.

A dignified rock-cut relief of a robed figure beside the Parakrama Samudra, popularly believed to portray the great king who built the reservoir.