Travel Sigiriya

The eighth wonder of the world - Sigiriya 

Sigiriya, one of the most visited tourist destinations in Sri Lanka is of a significant archaeological importance. This has been recognized as a UNESCO heritage in Sri Lanka. This a live proof of the amazing imagination, creativity and the engineering talents of people lived many years ago when the technology was not developed as now. Sigiriya is a rock fortress and the surrounding territories were inhibited about thousands of years back. The fortress was  constructed by King Kashyapa who ruled in the Kingdom of Anuradhapura during 5th century BC. After the death of the King Kashyapa, this place had been used as a Buddhist monastery until 14th century. The rock juts out about 660 feets above the greenery forest and situated in the central part of the country near Dambulla in the Matale District of Sri Lanka. 

The fortress is a rich collection of various architectural creations from the bottom to the summit of the rock including ramparts, outer and inner moats, water garden, lion's paw terrace, frescoes and  the ruins of the palace.

Ramparts and moats 

 King Kashyapa built three massive ramparts and three moats around the citadel. The primary purpose of them was to establish the security of the fortress from king's enemies. The outermost rampart which is over six kilometers length, encircles the entire citadel and middle rampart consists of a roadway running on top of it. The traces of outer moat is still visible today. Inner moat was the cooling resource for the fortress since the kingdom is situated in a dry zone. 

Water garden

Water gardens are the main visitor encounter as they enter through the west gate of the fortress. There are several water gardens in the surrounding of the rock. Each garden provides evidence of its distinctive features.

Miniature water gardens

Just inside the west entrance are the miniature water gardens. The garden consists of five units of pools. The hydraulic technology used for this complex is not second to that of water fountains found in  water garden 2.

Water garden 1

When walking past miniature water gardens from west entrance is the water garden 1. This consists of L-shaped pools which are interconnected. This had been a pleasure garden for the royal family during the kingdom. 

Water garden 2

Continuing from water garden 1 towards the center, visitors arrive at water garden 2. Also known as
fountain garden since water fountains are the main scenery. The garden occupies a narrow strip on the either side of the walkway. Water fountains still work during the rainy season even after thousands of years. The technology behind this is the hydraulic pressure.

Lion's paw terrace

The name "Sigiriya" or "Lion Rock" has derived with this giant lion structure at the entrance leading to the rock summit. Large portion of the lion statue had destroyed remaining the giant paws at the northern side of the rock.

Frescoes

Halfway to the rock summit is a spiral stairway to a narrow sheltered area of painting done on the western face of the rock surface. These frescoes still remain in a good condition where colours still
glowing. There is no exactly proven idea on the representation of the frescoes. But, the most believed ideas are that the wasp-waisted women represent the "Apsaras", king's concubines, or women taking part in religious observances. Certain references in the graffiti prove that there had been paintings of 500 ladies but, most have been lost while remaining only 21 at present.

Palace complex

On the rock summit is the ruins of a huge palace complex belonged to King Kashyapa. Remains of the foundations are found covering an area of around 1.6 hectares. There is a magnificent view of the greenery forest where there are water tanks found in some places. The ruins prove that there had been a huge palace with many buildings and giant ponds covered by a stout brick wall around the summit for protection from heavy rains and winds. There had been a proper water management system where rain water water was collected into large ponds and extra water was channeled into a pond below the rock.

The image in the left side shows the stone seat used by the king to rest and the square shaped holes prove that there had been a shelter for the seat. It is not allowed to take photos or to sit for the conservation purposes.