Sigiriya
| Ancient City of Sigiriya* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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|
 Sri Lanka |
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| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
| Reference | 202 |
| Region† | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription History | |
| Inscription | 1982 (6th Session) |
|
* Name as
inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
|
Sigiriya is an archeological site in Central Sri Lanka. It contains the ruins of an ancient palace complex, built during the reign of King Kasyapa (477 – 495 AD). It is one of the seven World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka and is one of its most popular tourist destinations.
Setting
Sigiriya rock is the hardened magma plug from an extinct and long-eroded volcano. It stands high above the surrounding plain, visible for miles in all directions. The rock rests on a steep mound that rises abruptly from the flat plain surrounding it. The rock itself rises 370m and is sheer on all sides, in many places overhanging the base. It is elliptical in plan and has a flat top that slopes gradually along the long axis of the ellipse.
Archeological remains
Sigiriya, considered by some as the eighth wonder of the ancient world, [1][2][3][4] consists
of an ancient castle built by King Kasyapa during the 5th century AD. The Sigiriya site has the remains of an upper palace sited
on the flat top of the rock, a mid-level terrace that includes the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes, the lower
palace that clings to the slopes below the rock, and the
The site is both a palace and fortress. Sufficient remains to provide the visitor with a stunning insight into the ingenuity and creativity of its builders.
The upper palace on the top of the rock includes cisterns cut into the rock that still retain water. The moats and walls that surround the lower palace are still exquisitely beautiful.
History
Sigiriya may have been inhabited through prehistoric times. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 3rd century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the Buddhist
Sangha. The garden and palace were built by Kasyapa. Following Kasyapa's death, it was again a
monastery complex up to about the 14th century, after which it was abandoned. The ruins were discovered in 1907 by British
explorer John Still. The Sigiri inscriptions were deciphered by the archeologist
Legends of the site's origins
The
Alternative stories have the primary builder of Sigiriya as King Dhatusena, with Kasyapa finishing the work in honour of his father. Still other stories have Kasyapa as a playboy king, with Sigiriya a pleasure palace. Even Kasyapa's eventual fate is mutable. In some versions he is assassinated by poison administered by a concubine. In others he cuts his own throat when isolated in his final battle.
Still further interpretations have the site as the work of a Buddhist community, with no military function at all. This site may have been important in the competition between the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions in ancient Sri Lanka.
The City and the Palace
Sigiriya is considered as one of the most important sites of urban planning of the first millennium, the site plan is considered very elaborate and imaginative. The planning had combined concepts of symmetry and asymmetry to intentionally interlock the geometrical plan and the natural form of the surroundings. The west side of the rock lies a park for the royals which is symmetrically planned, the park contains water retaining structures which includeds sophisticated sub/surface hydraulic systems of which some are working even today. The south contains a man made reservoir, these were extensively used from previous capital of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Five gates were places as entrances the more elaborate western gate is thought to be reserved for the royals.
The Gardens
The landscape of the Sigiriya city is considered to one of the most important aspects of the site, the gardens are one of the oldest landsacaped gardens of the world. Gardens take three distinct but linked forms they are Water, Cave and boulder gardens. The water gardens are the more sophisticated in design and can be seen in the western precinct. The water gardens contained pools of various depths with streams flowing over slabs of marble. Underground hydraulic systems provide water into the fountains which even operate today. Other water gardens found combines pavilions with water courses which were used to cool the pavilions. Boulder gardens had a different design concept to the water gardens, the gardens included pathways, pavilions etc.
The Mirror Wall
Originally this wall was so well polished, the king could see himself whilst he walked alongside it. Made of a kind of porcelain, the mirror wall now contains verses scribbled by visitors to the rock. well preserved it has verses dating from the 8th century. People of all types wrote on the mirror wall, they took to varying subjects like love, irony, experiences of all sorts. it has now been banned to write on the mirror wall.
Frescos
John Still in 1907 had observed that; "The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery... the largest picture in the world perhaps".
The paintings would have covered most of the western face of the rock, covering an area 140 meters long and 40 meters high. There are references in the graffiti to 500 ladies in these paintings. However, many more are lost forever, having been wiped out when the Palace once more became a Monastery so that they would not disturb meditation.
Classified as in the Anuradhapura period but the painting style technique used to paint is considered unique. The line and application style of the paintings differ from the Anuradhapura paintings. The lines are painted in a form which enhances the sense of volumeness of figures. The paint has been applied in sweeping action strokes using more pressure on one side giving the effect of a deeper colour tone towards the edge. Other paintings of the Anuradhapura period contains similar approaches to painting but they do not have the sketchy nature of the sigiriya lines as the painting of the Anuradhapura period has a distinct line which was the artists boundary which does not resemble that of the Sigiriya style.
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Tour
Visitors arrive outside the outer moats, with the rock rising above the trees in the mid distance. Paths through the complex of moats and gardens lead to the foot of the slope. Stone stairways climb the steep slope at the base of the rock, winding through the remains of the lower parts of the palace, reaching a terrace that traverses along the lower edge of the vertical face of the rock. The rock above this terrace, known as the mirror wall, was at one time adorned with frescoes, some of which can still be seen, though unfortunately now much faded. At the end of the terrace beneath the highest part of the rock, the terrace opens out into a substantial courtyard.
From here the climb to the top of the rock is via a modern iron stairway that reaches the rock face through the remains of the original brick gateway, the Lion Gate, now degenerated to a massive pair of brick paws. The ruined paws are all that remain of a huge head and fore paws of a lion, whose open mouth served as the entrance to the royal palace. The route continues around, across and up the cliff face via a rather airy iron staircase, a modern replacement for the original brick stairway, that vanished along with the lion's head during the 1400 years since the palace was constructed.
The stairway ends at the highest point of the rock, the upper palace falls away in gentle tiers towards the opposite end of the rock from this point. The ruins of the palace buildings rise only perhaps half a metre above the surface of the rock, but the extensive works cut into the surface of the rock have endured better.
Outer Gardens and Moat
 View of one of the pools in the garden complex |
 View of the moat |
 View of the moat |
 View of the moat |
The complex is surrounded by an extensive set of walls and man made pools.
Gardens
 A pool in the garden complex |
 A pool in the garden complex |
 View across the gardens |
Lower Palace
 Ruins at the foot of Sigiriya Rock |
 A monk's cell in the Lower Palace |
 A monk's cell in the Lower Palace |
Mirror Wall and Lion Gate
 Stairway |
 Towards the Mirror Wall |
 The terrace below the mirror wall |
 View from the side of the Mirror wall |
Top of the Rock
 Summit ruins |
 View over the gardens from the summit |
 The rock cut pool |
 Summit ruins |
Facts
- Sigiriya is used as the location of many of the events in the science-fiction novel
The Fountains of Paradise byArthur C. Clarke , although Clarke changed the name to Yakkagala in the book.
See also
- Official UNESCO website entry
- Sigiriya - The Lion Mountain
Place names in Sri Lanka
References
External links
- Wasp Attacks on tourists at Sigiriya
- Video: Digital recreation of what Sigiriya may have looked like
- The History of the Lion Rock
- The Story of Sigiriya
- The Mary B. Wheeler Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library
- Sigiriya Narratives
- The Citadel City
- Sigiriya - The Lion Mountain
- Sri Lanka Tourist Board - Ancient Cities
- Sigiriya The palace and fortress in the sky
- A List of traditional names of cities in Sri Lanka
- About Sigiriya Kingdom & Photos
| World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
|
Anuradhapura · |
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References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
