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temple, is one of its finest features. One of the
lions near the top of the staircase appears on
the Rs 10 note. The porches on the stairway
had extraordinarily beautiful pierced-stone
windows, one of which is now in the National
Museum in Colombo; the other is in the mu-
seum right here.
The museum is off a parking area about
300m beyond the entrance to the steps. On
display are stone sculptures of Vishnu and
Kali, fragments of pottery and the carved
stone screen. There are excellent, illuminating
displays in English.
Past the museum you can wander through
the remains of the ancient fortress. It’s a
beautiful area, with little waterways and stone
ruins. Near the stairs entrance, a cave tem-
ple contains some 13th-century frescoes and
images of the Buddha made from wood and
bronze. At various junctures monks or staff
for the site may open things for you; a tip of
Rs 100 is a worthy offering of thanks.
8 Getting There & Away
Yapahuwa is 9km east of the Anuradhapura–
Kurunegala highway, which buzzes with buses.
three-wheelers charge about rs 1000 return
(including waiting time) from the junction of Da-
ladagama on this road.
t he site is also 6km from Maho railway junction,
where the trincomalee line splits from the
Colombo–Anuradhapura line.
Panduwasnuwara
Panduwasnuwara rUIN
Almost abandoned, the 12th-century ruins of
the temporary capital of Parakramabahu I are
spread over a wide area.
Near the entrance is a moat, the massive
citadel wall and the remains of a palace.
Further on are image houses, dagobas and
monks’ living quarters. Follow the road past
the school and veer left; you’ll shortly come
to a restored tooth temple with a bodhi tree
and, beyond that, the remains of a round pal-
ace (apparently once multistoreyed) enclosed
in a circular moat.
There are many stories about who lived
in this palace and why it was built. Legend
has it that it kept the king’s daughter away
from men who would desire her; it had been
prophesised that if she bore a son, he’d even-
tually claim the throne. Another story is that
it was built to house the king’s wives and,
intriguingly, that there was once a secret tun-
nel that led from the king’s palace and under
the moat to the queens’ palace. However at-
tractive these stories are, historians have not
been able to conclude why the palace was
built.8 Getting There & Away
Panduwasnuwara is about 17km southwest of
Padeniya on the road between wariyapola and
Chilaw. The turnoff to the site is at Panduwasnu-
wara village, where there is a tiny museum that’s
a dusty cliché. It’s best visited with your own
transport.Ridi Vihara
Ridi Vihara BUDDHISt
(donation rs 200; h7am-4pm) Literally the ‘Sil-
ver Temple’, Ridi Vihara is so named because
it was here that silver ore was discovered in
the 2nd century BC. It makes for an inter-
esting detour to see its wonderful frescoes
and the unusual Dutch tiles from Neduntivu
(Delft).
The primary attraction is the golden stat-
ue in the main cave, called the Pahala Vi-
hara (Lower Temple), which also houses a
9m recumbent Buddha resting on a platform
decorated with a series of blue-and-white
tiles.
The tiles were a gift from the Dutch con-
sul and depict scenes from the Bible, includ-
ing Adam and Eve being banished from the
Garden of Eden.
The nearby Uda Vihara (Upper Temple)
was built by King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe. The
entrance has a Kandyan-period moonstone.
Some clever visual tricks were used by the
fresco artists; in one case, what appears to be
an elephant reveals itself on closer inspectionPADENIYA
About 85km south of Anuradhapura
and 25km northwest of Kurunegala,
where the Puttalam and Anuradhapura
roads branch off, is the Kandyan-style
Padeniya Raja Mahavihara (donations
appreciated), which is worth popping into
if you’re passing by. It’s a pretty, medie-
val temple with 28 carved pillars and a
stunning elaborate door (said to be the
largest in Sri Lanka) to the main shrine.
There is also a clay-image house and a
library, as well as a preaching hall with an
unusual carved wooden pulpit.