Lankatilaka Viharaya

Incredible building construction.
Long time ago how they did it. Sri lanka had such nice technology long time ago.
That history unbelievable.

History says that Lankathilaka is a massive image house of Buddha built by King Parakramabahu in 1153–1186.
The building is completely made of bricks, including the roof. This was a unique design at that era, and it was called "Gedige. "
At the far end of the building, there is a huge statue of Lord Buddha, which is also made of bricks. The statue is approximately 40 feet high, but unfortunately, the portion above the shoulders has been completely destroyed by now.

Near the main statue, there are two stairways for the upper floors. It is impossible to climb these stairs in a normal way unless you turn back towards the walls. The reason for this is that the climber should not turn his back on the Buddha statue.
I believe the building has been lit up using the sunlight and moonlight at night. They have used a special kind of stone called "Chandrakanthi pashana" (I don't know the name in English), which can reflect light and glow like diamonds.

Statue of Lankathilaka
Among the brick idol houses in Polonnaruwa, Lankatilakaya is the biggest idol house.
This idol house has three parts. * Idolized interior
* Mandapam with a door leading to the womb house
* Downstairs hallway
This idol house consists of
Lankatilakaya is located in a square courtyard. It is 124 feet long. 66 feet wide.
Inside the idol house is a 41 feet tall Buddha statue.
But for now, the Buddha statue remains headless. Lankathilaka idol house is built on the site of Alahana Pirivena in Polonnaruwa.
The sacred building was built with the patronage of King Maha Parakramabahu.
Lak u.melagoda
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When looking at the statue, it is designed in such a way that it looks like five Malakas (floors). There is evidence that there was an upper floor inside. But although Lankathilaka is reported to be a five-storied building, there is no evidence that it had five floors that could be used as it is today. Five storeys from the base separated from the outside are still visible today. It seems that these floors are reserved for setting up houses. It is more reasonable to consider it to be five-storied according to the floors marked on the outside.
(Wonderful Polonnaruwa Dr. Senarath Dissanayake p. 31 -2002)
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Nice place, there is a lot to see. Some fragments are well-preserved, others less so, but when you enter you can imagine what it all looked like. There is a board with a description and a list in English of what it looked like in its heyday, you should enter it as if you were entering a temple, without shoes, with your shoulders and knees covered. Entrance to the entire area costs $25 as of December 19,2023.

Lankathilaka image house is the largest image house in Sri Lanka build by king Parakramabahu the great. The name Lankathilaka has been derived as this image house is a pride to whole Sri Lanka. The image house is considered to be covered with paintings like in Thivanka image house but those are deteriorated.

Ruins of a multiple storey building in ancient Polonnaruwa city. A good example for the great architectural knowledge of people in the past.

Lankathilaka viharaya is near to kiri wehera and lot of people missing this place. In ancient time there were a buddha statue with a gem on forehead shaped like Sri Lanka, I heard that that’s why it’s call lanka thilaka. This was built in totally from clay bricks and they were made in specially for this type of construction. Now this place getting crumble and it should be preserved for the future.

This is one of the stops for Polonnaruwa historical sight tour and the pictures of this place defines the ancient town of Polonnaruwa, making it the most touristic place from the sights that you can see at the ancient town. The place consists of one main building ruin that you can freely walk through.
The tickets needs to be purchased at the ticket office of Archeological museum in Polonnaruwa.

A deviation from the traditional Buddhist Architecture
Lankatilaka Vihara is one of the most emblematic structures of the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa Two great walls, each with a thickness of 4m & height of 17m form a narrow aisle leading to a very impressive, though now sadly headless Buddha statue still standing, over 14m high. Built by King Parakrabahu the great, the shrine is a definite deviation in terms of Buddhist architecture: instead of the abstract symbolism of the stupa (dagoba) the attention is focused on the giant figure of the Buddha, which fill up the entire space within the shrine.

Excellent murals
While the interior walls are adorned with excellent murals, the outside walls are horizontally divided into five floors & adorned with reliefs of architectural subjects, which give an indication of the type of domed roof it would have had. Lankatilaka was later restored by Vijayabahu the fourth.

Similarities to Vatadages at the entrance
The entrance is guarded by statues similar to those in the vatadage & decorated with still more gurardstones& makara balustrades (dragon arches) adorned with lions & dwarfs.

Adobes of the gods
The intriguing bas reliefs (low reliefs) on the exterior walls are horizontally divided into elaborate five floors most possibly representing the Vimana (adobe) of the gods.

Lankatilaka Vihara is one of the most emblematic structures of the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa.