The kingdom of Dambadeniya was at its peak during the mid-thirteenth century, especially during the reign of King Parakramabahu II. He was a peaceful king who brought Sinhalese literature to new heights with his epic poetic masterpieces ‘Kavisilumina’ and ‘Visuddi Marga Sannasa’. You will get to see the recently excavated remains of the old Temple of the Tooth, where the Tooth Relic was housed previously, and the ruins of the royal palace complex with its gardens, walls and moats.

A royal residence in 13th century Yapahuwa was able to preserve some interesting remains. While many traces of other ancient defenses are still seen, an ornamental stairway remains as the main piece. The ruined walls of Yapahuwa form a rough semicircle. The ends join the foot of the high steepsided rocky granite outcrop. The outer fortification, an earthen rampart which extends to about a mile is about 20 feet in height. Over the rampart are the ruins of a brick wall that was erected to protect the interiors. Around the rampart was a moat. Access to the fortress was by means of the three gates that were connected to three causeways. Within this rampart was an inner fortification: a stone wall, 12 feet in height and about 500 yards long with a moat outside it and with two gates. The homes of the ordinary people would have been between the outer and inner walls while the king’s palace, administrative buildings and of course the Temple of the Tooth was within the inner wall.

Yapahuwa was the capital of Sri Lanka right after Dambadeniya, when the Dravidians invaded. The fortress was built on a giant rock in the style of the Sigiriya rock fortress. However, the architecture of this fortress is completely different from Sigiriya with wide staircases, beautiful stone sculptures and highly detailed carvings on pillars. On your visit you will be able to climb to the fortress and view the ruins of the stupa on the summit of the rock. The stupa has some notable statues and imagery from the Kandyan era that you can peruse.