The Royal Tour: Ceylon - The ruins at Polonnaruwu, the city that rose to be capital - of Ceylon in the 12th century; in left background, the Kiri, or Milk Dagoba, so called because it was covered with a milk-white covering of lime. Polonnaruwu, under the rule of a Sinhalese king called Parakrama, was a highly civilized place with palaces, theatres, libraries, hospitals, schools, parks and gardens, lakes and waterways and many temples and monasteries. The King's Wall, 90 miles long, encircled the capital. Polonnaruwu in the course of its history was abandoned and lost to the jungle; it was discovered in 1820 by an English officer on a hunting expedition. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the ruins of Polonnaruwu on 14th April, 1954. April 12, 1954. (Photo by Rosemary Gilliant, Camera Press).