Sri Lanka's second ancient capital — Chola irrigation cities and Buddhist masterworks in a dry-zone jungle clearing
Polonnaruwa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in north-central Sri Lanka — the island's second ancient capital (11th–13th century), whose ruins include the finest medieval Sinhalese architecture: the Gal Vihara rock temple (four giant Buddha figures cut from a single granite face), the Parakrama Samudra (a man-made lake of 2,500 hectares), and the 12th-century Royal Palace of Parakramabahu I, who unified Sri Lanka under a single king for the first time.
Polonnaruwa became capital in 1070 CE when Vijayabahu I defeated the South Indian Chola occupiers who had held the island since 993 CE. The city reached its peak under Parakramabahu I (r. 1153–1186), who unified all three Sri Lankan kingdoms, restored the hydraulic irrigation system, and commissioned the Gal Vihara. The city was sacked by Magha of Kalinga in 1215 and abandoned to the jungle; UNESCO inscribed the ruins in 1982.