The Sigiriya Rock

Overview:

The Sigiriya Rock has four main points of interest and can be seen in sequence by following the path that steadily ascends the rock. Just above the walkway that hugs the western face of Sigiriya Rock is a grotto containing the Sigiriya Frescoes. Continuing northward brings visitors to the Mirror Wall. As the walkway reaches the northern tip of the rock, a set of stairs leads to the Lion Staircase. Up the Lion Staircase lies the crown jewel of Sigiriya, the royal palace. In contrast with the lower gardens which were the private domain of the king, this part of the complex was an imposing display of royal power, visible for miles. The photo to the left shows this path, which begins at the lower right hand corner and winds its way around the side of the mountain. From there it is up a steep staircase at the Lion's Paws to reach the summit. The sections below offer a more detailed view of these points of interest.

The Sigiriya Frescoes:

The most famous feature of the Sigiriya complex are the fifth century paintings found in a depression in the rock face more than 100 meters above ground level. Reached today by a modern spiral staircase (photo to the left) they are but fragmentary survivors of an immense backdrop of paintings that once extended in a wide band across the western face of the rock, covering an area 140 meters wide and approximately 40 meters high, and making it perhaps the largest mural in the world. All that remains are a series of maidens in two adjacent depressions in the rock, known as Fresco Pocket A and Fresco Pocket B; the second of these is the more accessible and contains 5 maidens in all. The photo to the right shows Fresco Pocket B. There is a good deal of controversy over the style of painting found in these frescoes. Considered opinion seems to argue that they are not likenesses of maidens in Kasyapa's court or Lightning Princesses and Cloud damsels (in keeping with the theory of Sigiriya as a recreation of the mountain god Kuvera); rather they are asparas, celestial beings who carried flowers and scattered them over kings and heroes as a celebration of victory and heroism. While these are common in art and literature throughout the subcontinent, these likenesses represent something new in artistic terms, as they are the earliest surviving examples of a Sri Lankan school of realism, already fully developed by the fifth century A.D.

Close-ups of the Asparas or Maidens in Fresco Pocket B

The Mirror Wall:

The Mirror Wall dates from the fifth century and has been substantially preserved in its original form. Built up from the base of the rock itself with brick masonry, the wall has a highly polished plaster that lends a reflective surface to the entire wall. The Mirror Wall also includes the Sigiriya graffiti. The origins of the graffiti can be traced to the period following Kasyapa's rule, when people from all over Sri Lanka made pilgrimages to see the Sigiriya Maidens as well as the gardens and the palace ruins. Inspired by what they saw, thousands of messages have been left on the mirrored surface of the rock. Over eight hundred of these messages have been translated to date, revealing not only people's thoughts about the painting themselves, but also providing insight into the sensibilities of the ages represented in the messages. The Sigiriya graffiti offers a portrait of Sigiriya and its meaning through the ages. The photo to the left shows the length of the Mirror Wall, looking back toward the Maidens, while the photo the right offers a close-up of the graffiti.







The Lion Staircase:

One of Sigiriya's most dramatic features is the Great Lion staircase, now preserved only by the two paws and a mass of brick masonry surrounding the ancient limestone steps. (photo to the left)  However, from the rock that remains and the records that have been preserved, we know that the Lion Staircase was one of the principle features of Kasyapa's design for Sigiriya, the ultimate gatehouse to the royal palaces at the summit. His adoption of the Lion, the mythical ancestor and royal symbol of Sri Lankan Kings, was intended as a symbol of his might  The actual structure of the Lion Staircase House itself can be at least partially reconstructed from the evidence still remaining at the site. The paws give a clear idea of the form and scale of the Lion. It appears to have been created in the crouching position, judging from the position of the paws, the surviving pieces of what appear to be shoulders projecting from the rock above, as well as by other cuts in the rock face. The photo at the upper right shows the entire north face of  the rock, which would have been dominated by the lion's head.  The photo to the lower left provides a closer look at the existing staircase to the summit, while the video at the lower right is an artist's recreation of what the Lion Staircase looked like during Kasyapa's reign.

The Summit: 

Summit Complex:

The summit of the Sigiriya Rock may be divided into three distinct areas. The first, the Lower Palace area is on the northeast side of the rock, a plateau that is accessed via the Lion Staircase. The photo to the left overlooks two terraced areas that lead down to the access point to the rock (Area #1 on the map above). South of the Lower Palace area are the Palace Gardens, a series of terraced steps that lead down to the southern edge of the mountain. The photo to the right shows the terraces of the Lower Palace leading down to the cut-rock tank which forms the upper boundary of the Palace Gardens. (it is Area #2 on the map) in the illustration above)  The photo to the lower left offers a closer view of the tank, which resembles a bathing pool but may have been used to store water. Above the Lower Palace lies the Royal Palace area, the domain of the King. (photo at lower right, Area #3 on the map). The palace was the center of the royal city, lying about 180 meters above the surrounding plain. It is not only the loftiest and innermost precinct of the Sigiriya complex, it is also the geometrical center of the ancient modular grid on which Sigiriya was designed. Both the north-south and east-west axis of the entire complex intersect in the Royal Palace. The photo below shows a shot of the lower three sets of gardens from this summit.

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