Lankatilaka Pilimage (Polonnaruwa) | Largest Image House of Ancient Sri Lanka

Lankatilaka Pilimage (Polonnaruwa) | Largest Image House of Ancient Sri Lanka
Not to be confused with Lankatilaka Viharaya (Kandy) The Lankatilaka Pilimage / Pilima Geya or Lankatilaka image house (Sinhala: ලංකාතිලක පිළිම ගෙය) is a Gedige (vaulted) type image house located in the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa , Sri Lanka. It is considered the largest image house constructed in ancient Sri Lanka. History Constructed by King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186 A.D.), the Lankatilaka image house belonged to the Alahana Pirivena monastery (Wikramagamage, 2004). Epigraphical evidence is there to prove that this image house had been renovated during the reign of King Vijayabahu IV (1270-1272 A.D.) of the  Dambadeniya Period (Ranawella, 2014; Wickremasinghe, 1933). Image House The image house which is said to consist of five stories has been completely built out of bricks including the roof and therefore, known as a Gedige-type  image house. There are three examples of this type of vaulted-roof shrine at Polonnaruwa; viz: Thuparama Pilimage , Lankathilaka Pilimage, and Thivanka Pilim…