The most northerly building of the ancient city, the Tivanka Image House takes its name from the figure inside — a standing Buddha posed in the unusual "thrice-bent" (tivanka) stance reserved for divine beings rather than the historical Buddha. The brick walls of the shrine survive almost to roof level.
The real reason to make the additional walk north is the wall paintings. Patches of original twelfth-century plaster preserve frescoes of jataka scenes and bands of decorative motifs — the only Polonnaruwa-period mural painting to have come down to us. The work is faded but legible and is one of the great rarities of medieval South Asian art.