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Polonnaruwa Period
The Polonnaruwa period was a period in the history of Sri Lanka from 1017, after the Chola conquest of Anuradhapura and when the center of administration was moved to Polonnaruwa, to the end of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa in 1232. The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was the second major Sinhalese kingdom of Sri Lanka. It lasted from 1055 under Vijayabahu I until 1212 under the rule of Lilavati. The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa came after the Anuradhapura Kingdom, which was invaded by Chola forces under Rajaraja I. It also followed the Kingdom of Ruhuna, in which the Sinhalese Kings ruled during Chola occupation. Overview Periodization of Sri Lanka history: Political history Chola conquest (1017–1070) A partial consolidation of Chola power in Rajarata had succeeded the initial season of plunder. With the intention to transform Chola encampments into more permanent military enclaves, Saivite temples were constructed in Polonnaruva and in the emporium of Mahatittha. Taxation was also ...
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Statue Of Parakramabahu I
Statue of Parakramabahu I, located near the Pothgul Vehera in Polonnaruwa is a stone sculpture dating back to the Polonnaruwa period of ancient Sri Lanka. Its identity is uncertain, although the widely accepted theory is that it is a statue of Parakramabahu I. However, it has also been suggested as the statue of a sage. Carved on a large boulder, the statue depicts a majestic figure with a grave expression, holding a book or yoke in his hands. Location The statue, which is located to the north of the city of Polonnaruwa, is situated near the eastern bank of the Parakrama Samudraa reservoir. This reservoir was actually built by Parakramabahu I himself. You can find the statue approximately north of the ancient Potgul Vehera monastery. Characteristics The statue was built presumably in the 12th century, during the reign of Parakramabahu I. The statue of Parakramabahu I is one of the best stone sculptures belonging to the Polonnaruwa period. The statue is carved in high relief on a ...
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Chola
The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence in southeast Asia. The power and the prestige the Cholas had among political powers in South, Southeast, and East Asia at its peak is evident in their expeditions to the Ganges, naval raids on cities of the Srivijaya Empire on the island of Sumatra, and their repeated embassies to China. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p. 158 The Chola fleet represented the peak of ancient Indian maritime capacity. Around 1070, the Cholas began to lose almost all of their overseas territories but the later Cholas (1070–1279) continued to rule portions of southern India. The Chola empire went into decline at the beginning of the 13th century with the rise of the Pandyan dynasty, which ultimately caused the Chola's downfall. K. A ...
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House Of Lambakanna II
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses generally have doors or lock (security device), locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into the kitchen or another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-o ...
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Chalukya Dynasty
The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of south India, southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi (modern Badami) from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the decline of the Kadamba Dynasty, Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakeshin II. After the death of Pulakeshin II, the Eastern Chalukyas became an independent kingdom in the eastern Deccan Plateau, Deccan. They ruled from Vengi until about the 11th century. In the western Deccan, the rise of the Rashtrakutas in the middle of the 8th century eclipsed the Chalukyas of Badami before being revived by their descendants, the Western Chalukyas, in the late 10th century. These Western Chalukyas ruled from Kalyani (mo ...
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Virarajendra Chola
Virarajendra Chola (1002 – 1070) was a Chola emperor. A son of Rajendra I, he spent a majority of his life as a subordinate to two of his elder brothers, Rajadhiraja I and Rajendra II. During his early reign, he founded a school to study the Vedas, Sastras and grammar, with a hostel for students.South Indian Shrines: Illustrated by P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar p.23 He also founded a hospital named Virasolan. The famous Tamil Buddhist grammatical work, ', was written by Buddhamitra during his reign.History of Ancient India by Sakkottai Krishnaswami Aiyangar p.127 Virarajendra’s reign occurred in a period when the Chola Empire was trying to both expand its boundaries and preserve its existing territories, but was hindered by the death of Virarajendra’s eldest brother and king, Rajadhiraja I, and the short rule of Virarajendra's elder brother, Rajendra II. In total, the three brothers ruled for 16–20 years altogether, succeeding one another. The traditional enemies and subor ...
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Sinhalese Resistance
The Chola conquest of Anuradhapura was a military invasion of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Kingdom of Anuradhapura by the Chola Empire. The period of Chola entrenchment in entire Sri Lanka lasted in total about three-quarters of a century, from roughly 993 CE (the date of Rajaraja's first invasion) to 1070 CE, when Vijayabahu I of Polonnaruwa, Vijayabahu I recaptured the north,east and central Sri lanka and expelled the Chola forces restoring Sinhalese sovereignty. The Chola conquest followed an initial conflict between Chola and the Pandya-Sinhalese alliance during conquest of the Pandya dynasty, Pandya Kingdom by Chola king Parantaka I. After the defeat, Pandya king Rajasimha took his crown and the other regalia and sought refuge in Anuradhapura. The Paranthka made several futile attempts to regain regalia, including invasion of Sri Lanka on a date between 947 and 949 CE during the reign of Sinhalese king Udaya IV (946–954 CE). One of the driving motives behind the invasions ...
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Relief Of Parakramabahu In Polonnaruwa
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. When a relief is carved into a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood (relief carving), the field is actually lowered, leaving the unsculpted areas seeming higher. The approach requires chiselling away of the background, which can be time-intensive. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, particularly in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be simply added to or raised up from the background. Monumental bronze reliefs are ma ...
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Kassapa VI
Vikramabahu (1029–1041; known as Kassapa before his coronation) was a medieval List of rulers of Sri Lanka, king of Sri Lanka. Following the death of his father in 1029, Vikramabahu led the resistance movement against the Chola invaders of the country, ruling from the southern principality of Ruhuna from 1029 to 1041. He spent a number of years building up his forces to drive out the Chola, but the Cola inscriptions affirm that Vikkamabāhu lost his life in the Cola war and that his diadem fell into the hands of Räjädhirāja. The Mahüvamsa, however, says that he suddenly died of a disease in the twelíth year of his reign (1041 A. D.) in the midst of extensive preparations for a Cola war. Emergence Following the Chola invasion of Sri Lanka under Raja Raja Chola I in 993 CE, they annexed the principality of Rajarata, which encompassed the north of the country, and made it a province of the Chola empire. However they let the Sri Lankan king Mahinda V rule the southern princi ...
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Vijayabahu I Of Polonnaruwa
Vijayabahu the Great (born ''Prince Keerthi'') () (ruled 1055–1110), also known as Vijayabahu I, was a medieval List of rulers of Sri Lanka, king of Sri Lanka. Born to a royal bloodline, Vijayabahu grew up under Chola conquest of Anuradhapura, Chola occupation. He assumed rulership of the Ruhuna principality in the southern parts of the country in 1055. Following a seventeen-year-long campaign, he successfully drove the Later Cholas, Cholas out of the island in 1070, "In their expulsion from the island" reuniting the country for the first time in over a 77 years later. During his reign, he re-established Sri Lankan Buddhism, Buddhism in Sri Lanka and repaired much of the damage caused to infrastructure during the wars. He offered the Thihoshin Pagoda (Lord of Sri Lanka Buddha image) to Burma king Alaungsithu and it is now still in Pakokku. Early life Vijayabahu was born around 1039, by the name of Kitti (Keerthi) in Ruhuna principality, under Chola conquest of Anuradhapura, Chol ...
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Sinhalese Monarchy
The Sinhalese monarchy ( Sinhala සිංහල රාජාණ්ඩුව) has its origins in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay as described in the traditional chronicles of the island, the Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa and Culavamsa, and later chronicles, recount the date of the establishment of the first Sinhala Kingdom in 543 BC when Prince Vijaya (543–505 BC), an Indian Prince, and 700 of his followers are claimed to have landed on the island of Sri Lanka and established the Kingdom of Tambapanni.Mittal (2006) p 405 In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the Sinhalese people. However according to the story in the Divyavadana, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants exploring new lands.Paranavithana (1936) p 459 The Sinhale ...
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Rajarata
Rajarata ( (); ; meaning "King's country") was one of three historical regions of the island of Sri Lanka for about 1,700 years from the 6th century BCE to the early 13th century CE. Several ancient cities, including Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, were established as capitals within the area by successive rulers. Rajarata was under the direct administration of the King (raja/king, rata/country). Two other areas, Mayarata and Ruhunurata, were ruled by the king's brothers "Mapa" and "Epa" . The Magha invasion in the 13th century brought about the end of the Rajarata kingdom. History and kingdoms The first kingdom in Rajarata was established by Prince Vijaya in 543 BCE. He settled near the delta of the Malvathu River between Chilaw and Mannar. According o a local myth, Prince Vijaya married a local princess, Kuveni, to gain control of Rajarata. With her help, he betrayed and killed all of the regional leaders. After his death, the administrative cente ...
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