Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa is the second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms. It became the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka's first capital city, in 993. It remained the capital through the reign of King Nissankamalla around 1196.

After his death, Polonnaruwa went to decline, civil war, lawlessness and constant invasions from the South Indian Chola Empire and Malay barbarians, who sacked the city several times, virtually destroying the social structure and religious order of the country.

Soon, Polonnaruwa returned to the jungle and was completely lost by the early nineteenth century. It wasn't until the early years of this century that the main monuments of the ancient city were uncovered. The place was huge and many people rent a bike to go around the acres and acres of the complex.

I was amazed at how intact the city still is and how few people were there visiting. I stopped at one of the sites and was the only person there. As I wandered around, I could hear a rustling sound. I crept over over to the direction of the sound and saw a huge herd of about 20 deer and some really big monkeys. One of them had already spotted me and just stood there frozen. I crouched down and tried to get a bit closer. When I popped my head up to get a picture, a bunch of them were staring at me. I moved a bit more and either one of the deer or one of the monkeys sounded the alarm and they went running into the tree line. I took another step closer and the alarm was sounded again and they all took off for good.

But most importantly as I mentioned in the previous post: Duran Duran's Save a Prayer video was filmed there in 1982. WHY DID I NOT KNOW THIS? That was my favorite video back then! As I wrote this post, I simultaneously watched the video to see if I happened to catch any pictures of places or things that can be seen in the video. BINGO! Got one! See below and take a peek at the Sigiriya Rock post too!


Anyway, it was a really long day. That night, I felt like crap. I woke up feeling achy and feverish. The next day we had a long day ahead. It was going to be an 8 hour drive down the coast to Hikkadua, a seaside town with a few turtle conservatories.

We headed down the coast, and I tried to sleep as best as I could. As we approached the town we got caught in a torrential downpour. It was the perfect day to be sick, because all I could do was go to my hotel room, which was right on the ocean, open the doors and nap to the lull of the rain and the waves pounding on the surf. sigh.

Mommy and baby

Doh! They spotted me!

This kinda looks very similar to the Buddha at the 4:16 mark..

Identical shot of the 5:40 - 5:50 mark of the video below! Woo hoo! Got one!

Here is my favorite Duran Duran video of all time, Save A Prayer, filmed at various locations throughout Sri Lanka including Sigiriya Rock and Polonnaruwa. So hauntingly beautiful even if it is about a guy trying to get a girl to sleep with him!