Leaving Kandy, we set off for the area in central Sri Lanka called the Cultural Triangle. We were about to pack in major culture: visits to ancient temples and ruins while in this area of the island.
We were heading to Habarana. On our way there, we stopped at the Cave Temples (and the GIANT gold Buddha at their base) in Dambulla. These are a series of ancient temples carved into a giant rock. There are at least one hundred statutes of Buddha and incredibly intricate, detailed and beautiful artwork.
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| At Dambulla entrance |
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| Many monkeys |
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| Reclining Buddha |
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| This is inside the cave temples, after the long walk up the trail |
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| Each mudra has different symbolism |
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| Reclining Buddhas tend to refer to his death or dying |
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| The cave Buddhas are all gilt, and surrounded by painted decorations |
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| Amazing artwork |
The cave temples were one of my favorite things to see in Sri Lanka even though we didn't spend as much time there as we might have liked. They are quiet, stunning and engender a sense of reflection. Otis spent our visit with our car and driver and when we returned he was playing ball over the fence with some kids.
Upon arrival at The Other Corner, we strolled over the suspension bridge and entered the grounds. It was really pleasant -- well tended grounds, a nice pool and a vegetable garden. We had wonderful meals there and really enjoyed our stay. It was very quiet with only a few other guests so we had the run of the place.
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| The Other Corner guest house was reached over an Indiana Jones bridge |
We set off the next day for the ancient ruined city of Polonnaruwa, the capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to 13th centuries. We first stopped at the museum which gave us an overview and housed some interesting artifacts. We then moved on to go out and explore the ruins, including the castle complex, the hospital complex, multiple temples and monks' quarters. It was fascinating...well, to Chris and me it was. It was hot and Otis preferred staying with our car and driver and re-reading a book he'd already read.
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| Walking toward the Royal Palace |
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| The gate to the Royal Palace, operating at its height at about 1150 AD |
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| This building originally had seven stories |
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| Many of the buildings here have rows of bas-relief carvings, rich with meaning |
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| I think this is the council chamber - knowing what all these things are is kind of hard without a guide |
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| A moonstone, these are set in front of a lot of doors |
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| One of the many reilquaries in the Sacred Quadrangle. |
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| A big and very old dagoba |
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| A less common monkey, the Hanuman (or grey) langur |
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| Rawr |
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| Satmahal Prasada |
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| At Kiri Vihara |
We loved our day out in the ruins. We were excited about visiting the next set of ruins in another ancient royal city, Anuradhapura!
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