Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6.41

c6.41

Polonna- In the eighth century the Sinhalese were forced by the Tamils to abandon Anurādharuva pura, and founded a new capital at Pulatthi (Polonnaruva). But even here they were not safe, although they were sometimes able to reoccupy even Anurādhapura temporarily. In the eleventh century, in the reign of the weak king Mahinda V., Laṅkā was altogether overrun by the Tamils who destroyed the country and occupied Polonnaruva. The warlike Vijaya Bāhu I. restored the Sinhalese rule, and it was at Polonnaruva that Parākrama Bāhu the Great reigned from A.D. 1164 to 1197. This great man was at once a warrior and statesman; he succeeded in bringing the whole country beneath his sway and in driving out the Tamils; after which he ruled so firmly and justly that, as the Dambulla inscription informs us, “even a woman might traverse the island with a precious jewel and not be asked what it was.” After peace was thus established, Parākrama Bāhu rebuilt and restored the harassed city of Polonnaruva, and also the buildings of Anurādhapura “which had been wholly destroyed by the hosts of the Coḷians (Tamils).” Thereafter “Parākrama Bāhu, the conqueror of kings, dwelt in the beautiful city of Pulatthi (Polonnaruva), far from the strife of foes. A faithful and wise man, blessed with the dawn of fortune, and a leader of those that love music and poetry, he passed his time in the enjoyment of quiet pleasures and enjoyments” (Mahāvaṃsa, Chapter LXXIV). He purged and purified the Buddhist church and erected noble buildings for the church and the priesthood; as “a round temple of the tooth-relic built wholly of stone and adorned with beautiful pillars, staircases, walls and such like, and ornamented with rows of figures of the lion, the kinnara and the hamsa,” and “a beautiful image house with five stories, that contained images of Gods and Brahmas and other beings, and workmanship of flowers and plants, and adorned with pinnacles and eaves and inner rooms, halls and chambers—an image house which bore worthily the name of Laṅkā Tilaka (‘Brow-gem of Ceylon’; but not the present temple in Uḍanuvara).” Like so many other kings before and after him, “this most excellent of men caused many tanks and channels to be built in divers places, so that he might put an end to the calamity of famine among men” (Mahāvaṃsa, Chap. LXXIX). Such was Parākrama Bāhu the Great; of English kings there is surely none but Alfred the Great with whom he may be justly compared.