A TALE OF THREE CITIES – POLONNARUWA ANGKOR AND BAGAN – (LOWER MYANMAR).- By Bernard VanCuylenburg PROLOGUE. This article is pursuant to the one I last wrote for eLanka “Three religions and a Kingdom – The Glory of Angkor Wat.” The concluding paragraph of that article dealt with the diplomatic relations between medieval Polonnaruwa when King Parakramabahu the Great ruled Lanka and the Khmer empire, ruling from Angkor Wat in Kampuchea. (Cambodia). For reasons of brevity, I omitted to write the concluding paragraph which deals with King Parakramabahu’s foreign policy which had wider ramifications for two countries in South East Asia, Burma and Cambodia. For reasons of clarity Bagan in this article refers to the City – State of Burma, or Myanmar as the country is known today. KING PARAKRAMABAHU THE VISIONARY. King Parakramabahu’s policy of fostering ties with the Khmer empire had one negative  –  albeit temporary  – consequence ...

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