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High medieval · Buddhist · Sri Lanka
Gal Vihara
Polonnaruwa, North Central · 7.9659°, 81.0050°
Gautama BuddhaPolonnaruwaRock-cut reliefUNESCO World Heritage
Sacred since
1153 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
12th c. (Parakramabahu I)
Polonnaruwa
History & significance
A face of granite gneiss at Polonnaruwa carved with four large Buddha images, seated, standing and reclining, commissioned by King Parakramabahu I in the 12th century. He convened a monastic council here to reconcile the island's three fraternities and had the resulting code of conduct cut into the rock; the figures are regarded as high points of Sinhalese sculpture.