Polonnaruwa Lankathilaka Image House: towering brick pillars and headless Buddha statue?
What structural engineering principles support the 17-meter-high brick walls and towering entrance pylons of the 12th-century Lankathilaka shrine?
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3 Answers from travellers
Lankathilaka Image House in Polonnaruwa, constructed in the 12th century under King Parakramabahu I, is an architectural marvel of medieval brick masonry. The shrine features two massive vertical entrance pylons flanking a narrow nave, rising over 17 meters high. The interior houses a towering 13-meter headless brick-and-stucco Buddha statue (originally reaching the ceiling). To support such towering unreinforced brick walls without external buttresses, medieval builders stepped wall thicknesses inward from 4 meters at the base to 2 meters at the upper parapet, distributing structural weight effectively.
The towering exterior walls are deeply grooved with pilasters and blind arch niches housing stucco relief carvings of celestial devas.
Walking down the unroofed central corridor between towering vertical brick walls provides a dramatic perspective of ancient medieval scale.
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