Parakramabahu Statue

Google - Gerhard Knöchel

The Great King Parakramabahu I is one of the last rulers to unify Sri Lanka. During his reign Sri Lanka became self-sufficient and exported paddy. Having unified the island Parakramabahu I continued to reform Buddhist practises, built trade relationships with China and the Middle East, restructured the country's military capacity and even conducted a successful invasion in Myanmar. The Parakramabahu Statue in Polonnaruwa demonstrates his strength, majesty, dignity, and regarded as one of the best stone sculptures from Polonnaruwa era.

That statue dates back to the 12th-century and is believed to be built in the times of Parakramabahu I. The statue has features of a lambakanna (longer ears) person, the hare above the right shoulder is a symbol for lanbakanna. The broad shoulders represent his strength. The statue depicts a walking posture with his right knee bent forward and an inclined hip. The walking posture, yoke in his hand, grave expression in his face, and the bare upper body suggests that the statue depicts the king heading to a “Wap Magul Festival”, a ploughing ceremony.

There is another theory about the identity that this statue is of a prehistoric sage named Pulathisi or Agastya, Pulathis is known as the grandfather of ancient prehistory king Rawana.