Ancient City of Sigiriya description and photos - Sri Lanka: Sigiriya (Topic)

Ancient City of Sigiriya description and photos - Sri Lanka: Sigiriya. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Ancient City of Sigiriya.

Photo and description

Sigiriya (translated from Sinhalese "Lion Rock") is one of the main symbols of Sri Lanka and is very popular with tourists. It is located in the central region of Sri Lanka - Matale - and is a rock with an ancient fortress and the ruins of a palace. It is surrounded by the remains of an ancient garden and water bodies. Sigiriya is also famous for its ancient paintings - frescoes that resemble the caves of Ajanta in India.

Sigiriya may have been inhabited in prehistoric times and was used as a rock monastery since the 5th century BC. According to the chronicle, the entire complex was built by King Kassap (477 - 495 AD), and after his death it was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.

King Kassapa I came to power by killing his father and taking power from his brother. Rightly fearing the latter's revenge, he lived in a fortified palace built on this rock, which was considered an inaccessible place. However, it was there that he was defeated after a short but brutal battle in 495, after which he cut his own throat. After the death of Kassap, Moggallan returned Sigiriya to the monks, condemning it to neglect.

In the eleven years that Kassapa lived in Sigiriya, he created a pompous residence and founded his capital there, the impressive remains of which are still preserved. At the top of the cliff is the palace with its ruined buildings, sculptures and pool. At the foot of the cliff are two quarters of the lower city, which are protected by two massive walls: the eastern quarter, which has not been fully excavated, and the aristocratic quarter, which houses gardens lavishly decorated with canals and fountains.

Halfway up the cliff, in a rocky cave in a vertical wall on the west side, there are rock carvings that have become world-famous and became one of the symbols of Sri Lanka - "the virgin from the cloud": 21 female figures, comparable with the most beautiful creations of Ajanta.

The verses carved into the rock, known as the "Sigiriya Graffiti", are among the oldest texts in Sinhalese, and thus show the significant influence of Sigiriya on literature and philosophy.

Sigiriya is one of the eight Sri Lankan UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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Topic: Ancient City of Sigiriya description and photos - Sri Lanka: Sigiriya.