Sri Lanka - Sigiriya

8/22/2019 Sri Lanka - Sigiriya

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P.P.Hettiarachchi

Former Director, Sri Lanka Tourist Board

Monu

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Sigiriya

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Sigiriya

Refer story of Kasyapa. His father Dhatuusena, son Mugalan daughter, his sister, Migara son in

Law,the commander etc. The story found in the chronicle called Mahavansa is the same that

legends and folk lore describe. There is a sad story behind this Sigiriya.

After killing his father Kasyapa was not pardoned by Sanga ( order of monks) and the people inApura. Kasyapa had to leave Apura and established the kingdom in Sigriya. He wanted to be a

God Kuvera who is a Hindu god for wealth, and live like a god king. He ruled here for 18 years

and Mugalan his brother came to Sigiriya with an army. Hearing this, Kasyapa went to fight his

brother but when his armies left him alone thinking that king was retreating when he was

turning the elephant to avoid a muddy area, he committed suicide by cutting his neck with his

sword. His brother, who did not stay in Sigiriya, went to Anuradhapura and became the king.

Then the monks who were earlier at Sigiriya came back and established the monastery.

Prof. Chandra Wickramagamage, Prof. Sirigunasuingha and others have different opinions.

Popular question they ask is that; can a patricide and a king who has fear of any time invasion

create such a serene beautiful city?

According to the historical evidence the monastery was there till 13th Century and lost it for the

jungle. But the name Sigiriya continued.

During the 19th C. Buddhist monks established a temple at Pidurangala and began to take

interest in the Sigirya site. In 1890 The Archeological Commissioner H.C.P Bell commenced the

excavation and the successive Archeological Commissioner Prof. S Paranawithana continued the

excavation and conserved it to the present situation.

Sigiriya today

The monolith rock is named as Sigiriya because of the shape of the rock as well as due to thelater developments by the King Kasyapa. He added a lions mouth and people had to go throughthe mouth. In Sinhala, Sinha giri which means lion mountain or lions mouth became Sigiriya.It is wrongly described as a fortress or castle but in fact it is a well planned multifaceted royal

city in several sq. meters in extent.The History of Sigiriya can be divided in to three eras.

1. Pre Kasayapa era Monastery from 3rd C. BC to 5th C. AD2. Kasyapa Era 18 years 477 -495 AD3. Post Kasyapa era - Monastery up to 13th C. AD, lost for the jungle and modern period

According to archeologists and historians Sigiriya is a unique combination of fifth century urban

planning, landscaping, hydraulic management, engineering, architecture, painting, sculpture and

poetry. (Banadaranayaka S, 2005) There are two main concepts followed by the Sigiriya

builders. They are:

to conserve or enhance the environment To maintain symmetrical presentations.


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The Sigiriya palace complex is consisted of several parts

1. Western, Southern and Northern entrances, ramparts and moats.(Citadel extends about 18 sq km.)

2 .Pleasure gardens

3. Frescoes

4. Mirror Wall

5. Lions Paw

6. Summit

7. Mahawewa Sigiriya artificial lake.

8. Inner and outer cities - Eastern side of the summit

9. Wewa seven km long earth dam.

10. Museum

1. Western, Southern and Northern entrances.The inner city is very well marked out by three ramparts and two moats. The citadel extends

about 18 sq km.) The above three entrances can be clearly seen. The western entrance has beenexcavated 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 walk ways along their length. The middle and outer ramparts were incomplete

and suddenly halted with sudden and dramatic termination of Kasyapas reign. Northern and

Southern gate ways were large enough for the vehicular traffic.


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2. Pleasure GardensThis is considered one of the historic and oldest surviving gardens in Asia.

The pleasure gardens can be divided in to three.

Water gardens

Boulder gardens Terrace gardens

Water gardensSigiriya Water Gardens can be considered as one of the oldest in the world, which is still

functioning. During the rainy season (November to Jan) we can see the fountains gushing out the

water. The entrance with three small stone holes shows that there was a massive wooden

entrance. Then the ponds in various shapes, changing rooms and stepped tunnels show that one

can use another pond without coming up. As mentioned above, symmetry and enhancing nature

is visible here. Passing rectangular shaped ponds, it is found water fountains, cistern whichcollects water with a pressure, serpentine water ways and a pool under a jutted out boulder. The

brick wall on the left shows, that the builders did not want to destroy but to balance and

enhance the nature. The pools and other water retaining features of the gardens were

interlinked by a net work of underground conduits, initially fed by the Sigiriya tank and

probably connected at various points with the surrounding moats.

The excavated area on the right which is surrounding by the moats is considered as a cool

palace. Keeping the symmetrical theory, we can see the building unexcavated on the left kept for

the future generation to excavate.

Miniature water gardens

This is on the right immediate after the inner ramparts. Excavated in 1980s, It contains roofed

pavilions, of brick and limestone surrounded by paved water pools and winding water courses,

which were built in such a manner to present soothing and aesthetic effects by slow moving

water. According to archeologists, it has been renovated later after 10th Century. There is a well

about three m. deep shows the underground water ways which still work.


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Boulder gardens, terrace monastery and inner cityDuring the pre Kasyapa period the monastery complex was situated in this area, where,21 caves

have been found and some of the donative inscriptions on the drip ledges go back to the 3 rd to

1stC. BC.

There are ruins of Stupa, Bodhigaraa circular building round the Bodhi tree, meditating seats,

Asanagara (A house in which a stone seat was placed for which Buddhist worshipped) the

ground plan of this monastic complex resemble one of the remaining 5th to 6th Century monastic

complex called Pabbta vihara. During Kasyapa period the boulder gardens has been arranged

into a series of terraces, forming not only a clearly defined and protected area but also a boulder

and terrace gardens around the rock. The Audience hall and the cistern located in the southern

slope of the Boulder gardens. The cistern was watered from the lake down and the know- how is

not known. Banadaranayaka suggests, the cistern was originally watered by an elevated

aqueduct carrying water from the reservoir on the South Western slopes. Every boulder in

this area had been used for some kind of superstructure. The cobra hooded cave with pre

Kasyapa donative inscriptions and post Kasyapa paintings can be witnessed. The two arch ways

found on the present way up and way down at the western slope is remarkably situated to

maintain the concept of symmetry or pairs. Architects call it as echo concept.(The bouldrs with

rock cuts are not the steps but the grooves and wholes to be constructed superstructures).

Terrace gardensThe remains of terrace gardens are found right round the rock after the water gardens, Lions

paw and the summit. Archeologists believe that there were elevated terraces built around inner

city and palace complex where flowering trees and shrubs were planted.


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3. Frescoes/ PaintingsThe most famous features of the Sigiriya complex are the 5th Century paintings found in a

pocket of the rock about the 100 meters above the grounds level. A spiral staircase has been

erected for the present visitors to see the paintings. Historians believe that the western side of

the rock was full of paintings. It would be a wonderful gallery of paintings. Now there are 17

paintings are remaining. The technique used, is called fresco which means to paint on the wet

plaster. It is proved by a ladys figure with three hands and another with three nipples. The

painter could not erase the unsuitable hand and the extra nipple because he has painted it on a

wet plaster. There are different interpretations of the maidens. HCP Bell suggests that they are

royal princes and queens carrying flowers to the temple. Prof.Paramnawithana thinks that they

are Wijjulltha and Meghalata (lightning and clouds) in the Alakamanada of Kuwera.

Kumaraswami says that they are Apsaras or angels. However the common belief is that, those

ladies represent the damsels from the royal palace. Sigiriya paintings represent the earliest

surviving examples of realism, already fully evolved by the time of 5th century.

The pigments for the paintings were taken from the nature gravel, leaves, bark, flowers etc..

The paints have been varnished by Dorana oil. For the plaster - Kaolin, cow dung, termite hill

earth, and half burnet paddy husk ash.

Sigiriya paintings can be seen not only in the main rock but also in five caves in the boulder

gardens. Traces of paintings can be found in many other caves too. The post Kasyapa paintings

found in the cobra hooded cave are being considered unique and represent a high level master

pieces of Sri Lankan paintings. it is nothing less than a masterpiece of expressionist painting,

displaying considerable imaginative range and artistic virtuosity in way not seen elsewhere in

the surviving Sri Lankan Paintings The characteristic brush work style and tonal qualities of theSigiriya school are immediately noticeable here. (Bandaranayaka.S 2005)


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4. Mirror WallThe mirror wall is constructed of brick and plaster and preserved in its original form. Built up

from the side of the rock itself with brick masonry, the wall has a highly polished plaster finish.

This walled path way continued to the summit through the lions mouth. Visible from a great

distance, it is a rare and dramatic survival of the construction technique employed at Sigiriya to

combine masonry and natural rock. The row material for the shining wall would have been with

dolomite and brick powder, kaolin, some kind of glue of a tree and oil of a bark of Dorana tree,

which is used for varnishing.

The Graffiti

After Kasyapa when the monastery established again, people of the country came to see the

marvelous palace complex. When they came here, some of them they have written down their

expressions by way of composing poems on Sigiriya, frescoes, the king and the palace. Those are

called graffiti and more than 1200 graffiti have been read and understood. These graffiti give us

a clear picture of the society, literature and people who had a tradition of traveling to see the

places other than on pilgrimage during the period from 6th to 13th C. AD. According to graffiti

the queens have worn the silk from Beijing. Sinapata begie e ranawana - 339 graffito. ( Find

out some popular poems)

5. Lions Paw/ Lion StaircaseOne of the most dramatic features at Sigiriya is the great Lion Staircase, now preserved only in

two colossal and mass of brick masonry surrounding ancient lime stone steps. On the terrace it

was a court yard and reception area before ascend the summit. The grooves of the rock showthat there was a massive structure of wooden and brick masonry. The lion, so impressive even

in its ruined state today, must have afforded a vision of grandeur and majesty. There are several

graffiti which describes the great lion and the entrance.

6. SummitThe summit of the Sigiriya is a stepped plateau with a total extent of around 1.5 hectares. A

brick walled stair case originally gave accesses to the summit. It began within the lion gate way

and probably had limestone stairs and a tiled roof. The remaining grooves on the rock indicate

the path. The rock cut throne which faces the inner city and ceremonial precincts to the east ofthe rock. The palace complex represents the earliest surviving example of royal palaces in Sri

Lanka. The garden area shows the reduced scale of pleasure gardens below. The palace was

supposed to be a two and multi storied building complex according to the contours of the

summit. Intricate system of rain harvesting is visible with a several rock cut pools. However, yet

it is an unanswerable question that how the water was supplied to the top during the dry

season. 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 at

ceremonial t occasions.


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7. Mahawewa Sigiriya artificial lake.

8. Inner and outer cityIt is believed that the present unexcavated area of the Eastern Part of the rock as the inner and

outer city .The inner city measures about 700 meter from east to west and 500 m. from north to

south, with a high earthen rampart, gate ways and buried moat. On a low rock out crop in the

centre of the Inner city is evidence of a pavilion, directly aligned with the east- ward 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.

Eastern side of the rock was the metropolis of the Sigiriya complex, where the bulk of the citys

population lived nobles, officials, traders, craftsmen soldiers, servants and slaves.

Banadaranayaka 2005.

9. Wewa seven km long earth dam.

10. MuseumA modern museum is established as an outright grant byJAICA. The total picture of Sigiriya is

presented using audio visual aid. It is an ideal alternative to the people who are unable to climb

up and also during the rainy days. It is a wheel chair friendly museum. However there are no

parking facilities for the vehicles.

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Sri Lanka - Sigiriya