Architecture of Asia

Sri Lanka
Polonnaruwa Vatadage
 Vatadages are
buildings used in the
? Buddhist religion.
?
? ?
‘Vatadage’ is a word meaning rotunda, or

Vatadage circular relic house, in Tamil, one of the

official languages of Sri Lanka.

? ?
?
? This type of Buddhist monument is unique to
Sri Lanka.

These buildings house

smaller structures called
‘stupas,’ or more accurately
for Sri Lanka, ‘dagabas,’
which were originally
supposed to contain the
remains of Buddha and
were used as places of
 The Vatadage was built in Polonnaruwa in the 12th century (~1157CE) by the king of the
time, Parakramabahu “The Great”, who reigned in the mid 12thcentury. Unfortunately,
most sources we have give different exact dates, so we don’t know which one is actually
true.

Polonnaruwa (the city the Vatadage was built in) was declared the capital city of Sri Lanka in
1070CE. It remained so until either the latter part of the 13th century or the earlier part of the
14th (many sources we have gathered dispute this) when it was moved to Yapahuwa.