Kingdom of polonnaruwa sri lanka Tourist Place
đ️ The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (Sinhala: āļ´ොāˇ ොāļą්āļąāļģුāˇ āļģාāļĸāļ°ාāļąිāļē, romanized: Polonnaruwa RÄjÄdhaniya) was the Sinhalese kingdom that expanded across the island of Sri Lanka and several overseas territories, from 1070 until 1232. The kingdom started expanding its overseas authority during the reign of Parakramabahu the Great.
It had a stronghold in South India since its involvement in a civil war in the Pandya country. During this war, Pandya Nadu was seized as a province administered by the military of Polonnaruwa and Vira Pandyan of Pandya Dynasty. The tributaries of the Chola empire, Tondi and Pasi, also came under its and Vira Pandya military rule.Rameshwaram was under Sinhalese and Vira Pandyan Alliance rule until 1182.Its currency Kahapana was struck in these provinces. During the occupation of South India, construction works were undertaken.
Despite the prosperity endured under kings such as Parakramabahu, territorial and political instability would repeatedly occur, as the royal court was embroiled with factionalism chiefly between the Pandya and Kalinga bloodlines of the Polonnaruwa kings. This gave the royal military the opportunity to back their own preferred claimants to power, and generals like Ayasmanta and Lokissara would repeatedly seize the throne and install puppet rulers. Queen Lilavati's tumultuous reigns are a notable example for this, having come to power thrice under various generals. This escalating power struggle put the kingdom under decline, as evident from repeated intervention and raids by the Pandyans and Cholas to the North.
Following the capture of the royal capital by Magha, opposition coalesced around various warlords and nobles of the previous kingdom, who established fortresses in numerous locations to fight back enemies from the North. This would eventually give rise to Vijayabahu III, the ruler of the fortress of Dambadeniya, who eventually centralized Maya Rata by subjugating the power of rival lords and Magha's influence and established the kingdom of Dambadeniya in 1232, marking the beginning of the Transitional period in Sri Lankan history.
After ruling the country for over 1,400 years, the Kingdom of Anuradhapura fell in 1017 to the Chola King Rajaraja and his son Rajendra, who took King Mahinda V as a prisoner of war to Tamil Nadu; he died there in 1029. The Cholas shifted the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa and ruled for nearly 53 years. Polonnaruwa was named Jananathapuram by the Cholas. King Vijayabahu I (or Kitti) eventually defeated the Cholas and re-established the Sinhalese monarchy.Polonnaruwa had always been considered an important settlement in the island, as it commanded the crossings of the Mahaveli River towards Anuradhapura.
3 years after restoring Anuradhapura, Vijayabahu prepared to fight a possible invasion. He moved the capital out of Anuradhapura to a more defensive position, Polonnaruwa.After the victory at Polonnaruwa, Vijayabahu had to face more rebellions. This caused him to delay his coronation, which took place in 1072 or 1073,eighteen years after being crowned as Vijayabahu in Ruhuna, and after a military campaign that lasted seventeen years. Polonnaruwa was renamed Vijayarajapura and chosen as the capital. The coronation ceremony was held in a palace built for this purpose in Anuradhapura, the former capital of the country. Vijayabahu married Lilavati, the daughter of Jagatipala of Kanauj, as his queen. He later married Tilokasundari, a princess from Kalinga, with the view of strengthening ties with the Kalingas.
