Sigiriya

Sigiriya is one of the eight world heritage sites in Sri Lanka declared by UNESCO in 1982. UNESCO ranks Sigiriya as the 8th Wonder of the World, and once you see it, you’ll completely understand. According to archaeologists and historians, “Sigiriya is a ‘unique combination of the fifth-century urban planning, landscaping, hydraulic management, architecture, engineering, painting, sculpture and poetry. Some say 5000 years before, King Ravana used it as his palace on the summit and to land his vimana(helicopter) on top of the Sigiriya rock. He used Sigiriya rock as a Helipad according to folklore and Ramayanaya.

The Sigiriya builders follow two main concepts.

● To conserve or enhance the environment

● To maintain symmetrical presentations

According to the weather patterns in Sri Lanka, Sigiriya belongs to the dry zone. The 10th and 9th centuries BC, the protohistoric transformation occurred in the Sigiriya region. Humans used to live there, but they turned from foraging to agriculture. People understood they could make a plant from seed during this period.

Historical past

The area around Sigiriya has likely been inhabited since prehistoric times. There is clear evidence that Buddhist monks and ascetics occupied the many rock shelters and caves in the vicinity from as early as the 3rd century BC. The earliest evidence of human habitation at Sigiriya is the Aligala rock shelter to the east of Sigiriya rock, indicating that the area was occupied nearly five thousand years ago during the Mesolithic Period.

Buddhist monastic settlements were established during the 3rd century BC on the western and northern slopes of the boulder-strewn hills surrounding the Sigiriya rock. Several rock shelters or caves were created during this period. These shelters were made under large boulders, with carved drip ledges around the cave mouths. Rock inscriptions are carved near the drip ledges on many of the shelters, recording the donation of the shelters to the Buddhist monastic order as residences. These were made between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century AD.

In 477 AD, the local king Kashyapa 1, Sigiriya was developed into a complex city and fortress during King Kashyapa’s reign (477 to 495 AD). Most elaborate constructions on the rock summit and around it, including defensive structures, palaces, and gardens, date from this period. Archaeological evidence shows that the Sigiriya king had foreign relations with Persia, China and Rome.

According to the historical evidence, the monastery was there till the 13^th century when it was lost to the jungle. But the name Sigiriya continued.

During the 19^th C., Buddhist monks established a temple at Pidurangala mountain (beside Sigiriya rock) and began to take an interest in the Sigiriya site. 1894, the archaeological commissioner H.C.P. Bell commenced the excavation, and the successive archaeological commissioner, Prof. S. Paranawithana, continued and conserved it to the present situation.

Sigiriya today

The monolith rock was formed from the magma of an extinct volcano and remains a residual mountain. It is named Sigiriya because of the shape of the rock and due to the later developments by King Kasyapa. He added a lion’s mouth, and people had to go through the mouth. In Sinhala, “Sinha giri”, which means ‘lion mountain’ or ‘lion’s mouth’ became Sigiriya. It is wrongly described as a fortress, but it is a well-planned multifaceted royal city with a palace on the summit of the 200meter high rock, an extensive assemblage of buildings, parks, ponds, pathways, etc., covering an area of more than 15 hectares enclosed by ramparts and moats. There are 1350 stairs to climb onto the summit. The history of Sigiriya can be divided into three eras.

The Sigiriya palace complex consists of several parts,

• The inner and outer city
• Western, Southern, and Northern entrances. (citadel extends about 18 sq km)
• Pleasure gardens
• Frescoes
• Graffiti on the Mirror wall
• Lion’s paw
• Summit

The inner and outer city

It is believed that the present unexcavated area of the Eastern part of the rock is the inner and outer city. The inner-city measures about 700m from east to west and 500m from north to south, with a high earthen rampart, gateways and buried moat. On a low rock crop in the centre of the inner city is evidence of a pavilion directly aligned with the eastward-oriented throne on the summit, suggesting that this area was a ceremonial precinct connected visually and symbolically with the palace on the top of the rock. Beyond this inner city is the outer city area, a rectangular about 1500 by 100 meters. Excavations revealed a suburban settlement. The eastern side of the rock was the metropolis of the Sigiriya complex, where the bulk of the city’s population lived: nobles, officials, trades, craftsmen, soldiers, servants and enslaved people”.

Western, Southern, and Northern entrances.

 Three ramparts and two moats, very well mark out the inner city. The citadel extends about 18 sqkm.) The above three entrances can be seen. The western entrance has been excavated and preserved. It is regarded as an exclusive gate to the water gardens with a draw bridge. The moats were fed by the waters of the reservoir (tank). The inner and middle ramparts had tiled roofed walkways along their length. The central and outer ramparts were incomplete and suddenly halted with the sudden and dramatic termination of Kasyapa’s reign. Northern and Southern gateways were large enough for the vehicular traffic.

Pleasure Gardens

This is considered one of the historic and oldest surviving gardens in Asia.

 The pleasure gardens can be divided into three.

•      Water gardens

•      Boulder gardens

•      Terrace gardens

Water gardens

The water gardens of Sigiriya represent a symmetrical pattern, and every water pond is connected. When it’s raining, water flows from one to the other, and excess water goes to the moat. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa (the book about Sri Lanka’s history), the outer moat is filled with crocodiles. The left side of the water garden is not excavated and is left for the next generation to do.  Another important fact is that the king can easily visit every water pond without climbing up and down. Chronicles and folklore mentioned that most water ponds had water purification systems and were imprinted with the natural fragrance. King had bathing and water sports in those water pools with his queens and harem.

As mentioned earlier, Sigiriya belongs to the dry zone of Sri Lanka, and most of the year, it is almost nine months hot and humid; therefore, King Kasyapa used these water pools or ponds to cool the atmosphere. In the rainy season, 1400 years old, four water fountains in the water garden still pop up. Next to the water fountains, you get the serpent waterways, which retain the water, cleaning the waterway and cooling the place.

Some of the water fonds are in char-Bhar style in Persia. Then again, we can assume that king Kasyapa had a relationship with the other countries and knowledge of the outer world in 5^th C AD.

The water gardens, cave and boulder gardens, and terrace gardens at Sigiriya are among the oldest landscaped gardens in the world, so be sure to take some time to appreciate them!

Boulder Gardens

As you enter Sigiriya Lions Rock, you’ll first walk through a series of beautiful gardens as you reach the towering Lion’s Rock ahead.

Terrace gardens

The remains of the terrace gardens are found right around the rock after the water gardens, Lion’s paw and the summit. Archaeologists believe elevated terraces were built around the inner city and a palace complex where flowering trees and shrubs were planted.

Frescoes/ Paintings

The most famous features of the Sigiriya Complex are the 5th-century paintings found in a pocket of rock about 100m above the ground level. A spiral staircase has been erected for visitors to see the paintings. It would be a fantastic gallery of paintings. Now, only 17 paintings are remaining. The technique used is ‘fresco bueno’, which paints on the wet plaster. A lady’s figure with three hands and another with three nipples prove it. The painter could not erase the unsuitable hand and the extra nipple because he had painted it on a wet plaster. There are different interpretations of the maidens. HCP Bell suggests they are royal princes and queens carrying flowers to the temple. Prof. Paranavithana thinks they are wijjulatha and megalatha (lighting and clouds). Kumaraswamy says that they are Apsaras or angels. However, the common belief is that those ladies represent the damsels from the royal palace. However, those damsels are not nude; according to the graffiti, 219,221 and 230 are wearing Chinese silk. Sigiriya paintings represent the earliest surviving examples of realism, which fully evolved by the 5^th century. The first archaeologist, HCP Bell, in 1893, said, “Every court lady depicted is fully clothed”. In coloured kambaya from the waist down words and above in short sleeved jacket in finest material so thin that the painter has occasionally contested himself by indicating it by a mere line of deeper colour. A redundancy of ornament is affected equally by the queen or serving woman. Coronets (small crown) tiaras (ornamental brand in front of hair). Aigrettes crown the head (headdress with a spray of gem sand feathers). Flowers and ribbons adorn the hair; years, neck, breast, arms and wrists are loaded with many of the heaviest ornaments and jewelled gauds. “The royal ladies, their costumes and ornaments may have provided the models for the Sigiriya artists; as such, the paintings reflect the life and atmosphere, the ideals of beauty and the attitude to woman, of the elite society of the time”.     

Graffiti on the mirror wall

The Sigiriya paintings have captivated visitors to the site for many centuries. After the abandonment of the palace and the lion staircase, greatly inspired by the paintings, they composed poems mainly addressed to the ladies depicted in them and inscribed their verses on the highly polished surface of the Mirror wall just below the painting gallery. Known as the ‘Sigiri graffiti’ dating from about the sixth to the early fourteenth century, hundreds of these scribbled verses cover the gallery wall’s surface and some plastered surfaces in the caves below. Nearly seven hundred were deciphered by Prof. Paranavithana, and another 150 recently by Benille Priyanka. The poems, which express the thoughts and emotions of ancient visitors to Sigiriya, provide not only revealing comments on the paintings themselves but also an insight into the cultivated sensibilities of the time and its appreciation of art and beauty. Here, we can assume that the Sri Lankans could read and write then and liked to do pilgrimage and touring. 

Lions Paw/ Lions Staircase

One of the most dramatic features at Sigiriya is the excellent Lion staircase through the Lion’s mouth, which is preserved only in two colossal and mass of brick masonry surrounding ancient limestone steps. On the terrace was a courtyard and reception area before ascending the summit. The grooves of the rock show a massive wooden and brick masonry structure. The lion, so impressive even in its ruined state today, must have afforded a vision of grandeur and majesty. There is some graffiti, which describes the great lion and the entrance.

Summit

  The summit of the Sigiriya is a stepped plateau with a total extent of around 1.5 hectares.   A brick-walled staircase initially gave access to the summit. It began within the lion gateway and probably had limestone stairs and a tiled roof. The remaining grooves on the rock indicate the path. The rock-cut throne faces the inner city and ceremonial precincts east of the rock. The palace complex represents the earliest surviving example of a royal palace in Sri Lanka. The garden area shows the reduced scale of pleasure gardens below. The palace was supposed to be a two-story, multi-storied building complex built according to the contours of the summit. An intricate system of rain harvesting is visible with several rock-cut pools. However, how the water was supplied to the top during the dry season is an unanswerable question. “The Palace on the summit and the great lion presided over the surrounding countryside, is a powerful expression of both actual and symbolic royal authority and control over “landscape of power” radiating across the territory of the Sigiriya kingdom.” Bandaranayaka. S. 2005) (The king did not stay at the palace on the summit. It has been used on ceremonial occasions. There are 1350 stairs to climb onto the summit on 200m high rock.

Conclusion

With its rich history, stunning architecture, and breathtaking views, Sigiriya Rock is a must-visit destination for anyone travalling Sri Lanka. This UNESCO World Heritage site offers a unique opportunity to step back in time and immerse yourself in the ancient wonders of this beautiful island nation.

Whether you are a history enthusiast, an architecture lover, or simply someone who appreciates natural beauty, Sigiriya Rock will leave you in awe. So, plan your visit to this remarkable site and create memories that will last a lifetime.

These messages (Sigiri graffiti) from the past can cause a frisson when read by visitors today. One reads: “At Sigiriya, of abundant splendour, situated on the island of we saw, in a happy mood, the rock that captivates the mind of all people who come here.”

The visitors today also tend to be smaller in the afternoon as many tour groups visit in the morning (before moving on to the next destination), and there’s also the additional bonus of watching the sunset once you get to the top! Make sure you purchase your ticket before the entrance closes at 5 P.m.

SIGIRIYA CLIMBING TIPS

• Be sure to take a bottle of water and keep yourself hydrated. Don’t forget there are 1350 stairs to climb. The last place to buy water is a canteen near the main entrance.
• Wear comfortable, breathable clothes as the Sigiriya Lion Rock climb is a workout. 
• Wear sunglasses if you are climbing in the noon.
• Use sunscreens if you are climbing in the noon.
• Always keep your attention on the steps. In some areas, the slope is quite steep.
• Start your climb as early as in the morning to avoid sun heat.
• Keep your valuable items safe. Some monkeys might steal your food items.
• Beware of heavy winds and keep your belongings safe (Camera, sunglasses, hats and caps)
• Always obey the road signs and instructions.
• If you climb Sigiriya Lion Rock in the morning, take the museum tour afterward.

CRUCIAL DONT’S AT SIGIRIYA ROCK

• Do not take pictures at Sigiriya Frescoes at any chance. This is a serious punishable offense.
• Drones are STRICTLY prohibited within Sigiriya Lion Rock premises. This is a severely punishable offense. Hornets get disturbed by the sound of a drone.
• Do not feed animals, especially monkeys, and deer, while you climb Sigiriya Lion Rock.
• Do not make colossal noise. Hornet nests are there in the surroundings. They won’t disturb you until you upset them.
• Do not walk on ancient building ruins in Sigiriya Fortress, and if you see someone, please advise.
• Do not write anything anywhere unless it’s the log book in the museum.