Pabalu vehera

Pabalu Vehera is located in the sacred city of Polonnaruwa. Pabalu Vehera, an unusually shaped brick building, was probably started by Queen Rupavati, the wife of Parakramabahu in Pollonnaruwa.

The original name of this vehera is unknown. The present name “pabalu” (meaning “beads”) is made from the discovery of a large number of small glass beads while excavating the area around the stupa. From the outside we can see that this rather impressive building resembles a stupa on a second stupa. The vehera usually has only 4 images. But there are nine image houses around the vehera. Some of them still preserve Buddha images. Among these are statues, standing and sitting, and several statues in between. One has the Sri Pathla (foot impression) of the Buddha. Another is a Buddha statue. It is believed that these idols were built by different people at different times. In addition there is a staircase to reach the first level of the stupa. The upper part of the stupa has been destroyed by the invaders and the center of the vehera has been destroyed by the treasure hunters in the recent past.It is our responsibility to preserve the endangered Buddhist heritage.