A view showing the Wata Dage and the Thuparama in the ruined city of Polonnaruwa. The Wata Dage, or Round House, are the circular halls built by King Karakrama. The Thuparama (left of slide) is a temple built in oblong form with a low, square tower.

Polonnaruwa, situated in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, 50 miles south-east of Anuradhapura, had been a royal residence of the rulers of Sri Lanka since 368 AD. It was only with the sacking of Anuradhapura by the Tamils in the 8th century that Polonnaruwa became the capital. Polonnaruwa itself was sacked in the 11th century and the ruins that these slides depict date from the 12th century and the reign of Parakrama Bahu (the Great).