Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

1126 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
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.

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Shore Temple
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c. 700–728 CE
Virupaksha Temple, Hampi
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Vittala Temple, Hampi
Hampi · India
15th–16th c.

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Polonnaruwa