Sigiriya, an ancient fortress in Sri Lanka, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in the 5th century by King Kasyapa. The site includes a palace, gardens, and sophisticated water structures. It has four distinct regions and is considered a very sophisticated site for the period. The mirror wall and inscriptions are well-preserved. Sigiriya is one of the most remarkable and little-visited archaeological sites in the world and is a place every visitor to Sri Lanka should see.
Sigiriya is an ancient fortress in Sri Lanka. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been since 1982. It is often compared to the Ajanta Caves in India, which are also a World Heritage Site.
Sigiriya, which can be loosely translated as Lion’s Rock, was built in the 5th century, under King Kasyapa. The region is thought, however, to have been inhabited since at least the 5th century BC, with the caves being dedicated to practitioners of Buddhism in these early centuries.
A palace was built on the site by King Kasyapa, who also built a huge garden complex. After the king’s death, the site reverted to its Buddhist roots, being used as a monastery for the next millennium, until being abandoned in the 14th century. It remained lost until the early 20th century, when a British explorer, John Still, rediscovered it.
Sigiriya rock is a huge plug of magma from a volcano that has long since eroded away, leaving only the hardened rock of the plug to tower above the surrounding plain. It rises more than 1200 feet (370 m) and offers extraordinary views of the surrounding largely flat area.
Sigiriya is considered a very sophisticated site for the period. It makes use of interesting juxtapositions between asymmetrical and symmetrical structures to help the buildings blend seamlessly into the natural geometry of the location. It also includes technologically sophisticated elements, such as water structures, both above and below the surface.
The site has four distinct regions. At the top of the rock, on the flat plateau, is the upper palace. A little further down is the Lion Gate and Mirror Walls, on a terrace halfway up the rock. At the base of the rock is the lower palace, built on the slope leading up to the overhanging wall. And out of the rock come hundreds of feet of various walls, ditches, and elaborate gardens.
There are three separate garden forms in Sigiriya: cave gardens, boulder gardens and water gardens. All three are sophisticated in design and implementation and are some of the oldest surviving examples of advanced landscaping from the ancient world. The use of water is particularly impressive and beautiful, with large flat stones set so that the water barely covers them in a style similar to modern water features, underground water feed tunnels and fountains that continue to function more than 1500 years after their construction.
The mirror wall is another technologically sophisticated structure of Sigiriya. It was originally intended so that the king could examine it and see himself in all his glory. Made of porcelain, it was originally kept shiny during Kasyapa’s reign. After his death, it was never polished again, and from the 8th century onwards, visitors to the site began leaving written messages on the rock. These inscriptions have been well preserved and their messages are still clearly visible.
Sigiriya is one of the most remarkable and little-visited archaeological sites in the world. It is an incredibly beautiful site, designed to embody many of the precepts of Buddhism practiced at the site and using advanced technologies to demonstrate the genius and power of King Kasyapa. It has been remarkably well preserved and is a place that every visitor to Sri Lanka should strive to see.
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