Panduwasnuwara

Before the great King Parakramabahu led his troops to unite the whole island he chose Panduwasnuwara as his ruling capital. The area has ruins of the King’s palace, Bodhigaraya, and a monastery. After his uncle Kirti Sri Megha, prince Parakramabahu was ascended as the ruler of the Dakkhina Desha in the mid 12th century, and he developed this area and built the infrastructure before regaining the throne of Sri Lanka.

The complex consists of many ancient ruins of a 12th century palace, Bodhigaraya, Chakrawalaya (circular building) and a monastic complex. The ruins resemble the structures of the Polonnaruwa era. It was believed that after taking over the sacred tooth relic from Queen Sugala it was brought to Panduwasnuwara and kept safe in a newly constructed temple.

The complex has an interesting circular foundation which is called Chakrawalaya. Many erroneously tend to believe that this was the circular tower (“ektamge”) Unmada Chitra was confined to by her brothers during 6th century BC. Unmada Chitra was the mother of King Pandukabhaya, the first monarch of Anuradhapura. However there hasn't been any evidence discovered supporting this theory.
It takes about two to three hours to explore the whole area and mornings are best to visit.