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Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa in June 2014: brick ruins of the medieval capital, rows of carved stone pillars, faded shrine murals and the rock-cut Buddhas of Gal Vihara.

In June 2014 we spent a scorching day in Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital of Sri Lanka and the heart of the island's ancient cities. Brick, granite and a thousand years of history, laid out under a sky that could not decide between glare and cloud.

Weathered brick walls and plastered wall fragments of ruined buildings at Polonnaruwa, with sandy paths and green trees behind — Whole neighbourhoods survive as waist-high brickwork, with patches of the original plaster still clinging on.

Inga in a sun hat and blue top standing on a sandy path between two rows of tall carved stone pillars at Polonnaruwa — Inga between rows of carved pillars that once held up a roof. Every face of every column carries its own pattern.

The standing Buddha of Gal Vihara carved from streaked granite with arms folded, the head of the reclining Buddha visible to the right — Gal Vihara: the standing Buddha with folded arms, cut straight out of the streaked granite, with the reclining Buddha resting beside it.

Faded centuries-old murals of robed figures painted on a plastered shrine wall beside a carved stone column — Inside one shrine the murals are still there, faded to the colour of the stone but with the processions of figures just legible.

More from the medieval capital

Polonnaruwa rewards slow wandering: every few hundred metres of sandy path turns up another shrine, another carving, another reminder that this was a working city of the twelfth century.

The circular Vatadage at Polonnaruwa: carved steps and stone pillars leading up to a seated Buddha statue under a blue sky — The Vatadage, the circular relic shrine at the heart of the sacred quadrangle. Every step and guard stone on the way up is carved.

Gal Potha, a huge inscribed stone slab at Polonnaruwa carved with rows of ancient script and a frieze of figures and elephants — Gal Potha, the stone book: several metres of royal proclamation carved into a single slab, complete with an elephant frieze.

Rock-cut statue of a bearded robed figure holding a manuscript, carved in high relief from a granite boulder at Polonnaruwa — The bearded sage carved straight out of a boulder, manuscript in hand, usually identified as King Parakramabahu himself.

Inga standing at the stone lattice fence of the Nissanka Latha Mandapaya at Polonnaruwa, its pillars curved like lotus stalks — The Nissanka Latha Mandapaya, where the pillars curve like lotus stalks. Twelfth century masons showing off, and fair enough.

Seen through a stone doorway, an elderly woman in red bends to lay flowers at a small shrine inside a ruined stone temple at Polonnaruwa — Eight hundred years on, the shrines still get their flowers.

The towering headless standing Buddha inside the brick image house of Lankatilaka at Polonnaruwa, with flower offerings at its feet — Inside Lankatilaka the brick walls still funnel you toward a standing Buddha several storeys tall, headless but not diminished.

Nelum Pokuna, the lotus pond of Polonnaruwa, a bathing pool of concentric stone petal tiers descending like a flower — The lotus pond: a royal bath built as rings of stone petals. Twelfth century landscape design, still the prettiest pool we have seen.

A toque macaque sitting on a stone ledge at Polonnaruwa cradling her baby, which peers out from her lap — The ruins have a resident population of toque macaques who treat the world heritage site as furniture.

Inga at a roadside stall digging the flesh out of a king coconut with a spoon carved from its own husk — Refuelling: a king coconut, drunk first, then excavated with a spoon improvised from the husk.

Morning on the great lake

The city only makes sense next to its reservoir. Parakrama Samudra, the sea of Parakrama, is a twelfth century irrigation lake so large that the far shore reads as coastline, and the next morning we went down to the water.

Panorama of Parakrama Samudra at Polonnaruwa: calm water on both sides of a sandy spit with an island of trees and a parked motorbike — Parakrama Samudra in one sweep: water to both horizons, one sandy spit, one motorbike.

By an outrigger canoe with a bicycle balanced on it, a fisherwoman holds up a huge freshwater prawn as Inga reacts with raised hands — A lake fisherwoman produced a freshwater prawn the size of a forearm. Inga's reaction is unedited.

Inga barefoot at the edge of Parakrama Samudra with a camera around her neck, looking down at the water — Boots off, camera on. The paddling was brief; the lake is enormous and mostly uninterested in tourists.

The granite carving at Gal Vihara alone is worth the drive north. We paired the trip with the rock fortress at Sigiriya and the golden temple at Dambulla, the classic cultural triangle circuit.