Monumental granite statues of the Buddha at Gal Vihara, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, hewn from the rock face. Polonnaruwa, a lost city in the forests of the north-east of the island, was rediscovered in 1820. In the 12th century the capital was moved here from Anuradhapura, and the religious masterpiece is here at Gal Vihara ('Rock Shrine'), a group of four massive sculptures of the Buddha in striated granite.