File:Polonnaruwa 0253.jpg

English: Much print has been exercised over this statue, that several authors have identified with King Parakrama himself. While that identification cannot be absolutely ruled out in the absence of written evidence, art-historical considerations about the long tradition of sage statues in India, of which the present statue is a perfect example, strongly indicate that this statue indeed represents a sage; most likely Pulasti, after whom the city was eponymously ("Pulastipura") named. The bearded sage holds a palm-leaf book in his outstreched arms; he stands in tribhanga; his gently swelling stomach is full of prana, and his upper torso is bared above a knotted, sheer lower garment.