Polonnaruwa was the 2nd capital of Sri Lanka and its history dates back to more than 1000 years ago. When we reached there we went around the Parakrama Samudraya, (King Parakrmabahu’s ocean). It is a massive reservoir built by the great king who combined 5 lakes to make a massive reservoir. It is said that his vision was to, not let a single drop of rainfall reach the ocean without coming to any use.
Then we visited statue situated next to the reservoir which is still in dispute as to who it depicts. One thought is that it’s King Parakarama Bahu the 1st and the other is that it’s a statue of a Sage. Irrespective of that it is a well known landmark of Polonnaruwa.
We are staying right next to the tank in a hotel that the late Queen Elizebeth the II stayed when she visited Sri Lanka more than 40 years ago. It is beautifully renovated and the we all had fun getting in the pool and cooling off.
In the evening we went on a boat ride( Paruwa) which of scenic as well as peaceful. We visited the bird island and we were all excited to see the baby chicks of various birds. Suprisingly there were so many Ibis flying around. After that we saw 2 elephants feeding on the grassland. One had beautiful tusks and it was magical seeing them at sunset. We jumped into the pool once again before dinner as it had little twinkling lights at the base which were very inviting.
It was such a great end to a wonderful
Day.
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