Being a hedonistic place, a rock fortress and a sacred complex, Sigiriya (Lions’ rock) is one of the islands’ most incredible archaeological sites, located north of Dambulla, 169 Km from Colombo.In 1982 the ancient city of Sigiriya was listed as a World Heritage site. The palace complex of Sigiriya was built by King Kassapa (AD 478 – 497).
Sri Lankan landscaping tradition is well displayed at Sigiriya as the best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium, with its’ combination of buildings, boulder gardens,terraced gardens, water gardens with fountains that functioning still after 1,500 years and the fusion of symmetrical and asymmetrical elements using varying levels of axial and radial planning.The Complex consists of a central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and two rectangular precincts on the east and the west , fortified with triple and double ramparts with moats in between. The innermost moat on the west side has been restores. This is also where the only original entrance was located. More recently an additional entrance has been created from the south to easily reach the complex directly from the parking lot.
Some of the most magnificent ancient frescoes in South Asia are found to be in Sigiriya rock surface. These rock paintings, featuring Cloud Damsels have survived thousands of years and are still in amazing condition, mainly due to the natural pigments used by the artists. On west side of the rock there’s an ochre colored Mirror Gallery as the outer wall of the path to the upper parts of the fortress. This protective wall is covered with a mixture of pulverized quartz, oil and lime to give a glass like surface with reflecting properties rather like a mirror. The mixture is ideal for tropical conditions as the excellent state of the gallery shows. Sinhalese graffiti has been found on this Mirror Gallery as the oldest secular writing in this language. Between 7 – 12C tourists scratched their comments and observations into this , praising the scenery and above all the Cloud Damsels.
The Giant Lions’ paws is the entrance to the visitors through its’ open mouth to the summit which yields a spectacular panorama of the surrounding jungle & traditional Sigiriya village. To the North is the Pidurangala Rock, where a Buddhist monastery and cave temples are found and near the summit one of the largest resting Buddha statues made out of brick and mortar. In the South East Sigiri Maha Weva can be seen, and in the South the Mapagala Rock can be seen, which was a fortress long before Sigiriya was built. Sigiriya is an excellent place to see the majesty and complexity of urban-planning in 5th century Sri Lanka.
