A Sakura Story: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka - Sigiriya Rock

I first heard about Sigiriya while hastily planning our spontaneous trip to Sri Lanka. It was described as the eight wonder of the world, an ancient fortress of a paranoid king, who had built himself an impenetrable capital city on the top of an extinct volcano in the very center of Sri Lanka. Hmmmmm....sounds like it's worth a visit, right?

Kingsley and I spent the better part of an afternoon climbing Sigiriya's 1202 steps to its stunning summit, and we both realized about halfway up that this was clearly one of the the coolest place either of us have ever been...

It's not just the scale of this rock that impresses you. It's the ingenious design of the city it housed, with it's highly evolved irrigation systems (they were able to pump water from bottom to top), it's elaborate defenses, and beautiful pools and gardens.

The history of this amazing fortress goes something like this:

around 477 AD, Kashyapa, the illegitimate son of King Dhatusena, killed his father with the help of some well-placed relatives in the army, and seized control of the kingdom. King Dhatusena's legitimate son Moggallanna fled to India, leaving the new King Kashyapa in full control. The new king was worried that he couldn't defend the traditional capital of Anuradhapura, so he moved his entire kingdom to the barren rock fortress of Sigiriya and built a city around and atop it. He was beset with guilt from killing his father and also feared that his brother would return at the head of an army and depose him. So he dug in, literally, and fortified his position. Unfortunately, even though he commissioned great works at Sigiriya (which translates as "the Lion's Rock", and is meant to honor Lord Buddha), he ultimately committed suicide in battle (or was poisoned by a concubine, depending on which version you believe), and the royal city he constructed was abandoned when Moggallanna returned to reclaim his rightful place on the throne. His brother did not want the fortress on a hill, and gave it to Buddhist monks who turned it into a monastic center, which it remained for hundreds of years. But even though it was a monastery, the frescoes remains, and the place still carried the marks and legacy of King Kashyapa's manic desire to ensconce himself on the highest, safest ground around, where people could only climb up to meet him in single file...

Legend says that 500 wives joined King Kashyapa on this rock, and he built glorious gardens and pools to house his entourage. He commissioned decorative paintings to be layered on the rock 600 feet above the ground, on narrow ledges, and these paintings have survived against all odds and are considered to be among the world's oldest surviving paintings. They were painted on walls constructed of egg white, honey, and polished lime. I found the images unexpectedly stunning.

We climbed a somewhat precarious iron spiral staircase to find ourselves face to face with large images of beautiful women and attendants, scattered across a rock face in such a way that made me wonder how people ever managed to get to these high and isolated spots.

After winding our way around the rock, and up multiple staircases and narrow passes, we found ourselves at the ledge before the final summit, which contains the remains of two gigantic Lion's paws. Apparently in the old days you had to climb stairs through the Lion's mouth to get to the top, but today only the paws remain. They are awesome!

The summit has a magnificent view that could not be fully captured through pictures. For me the most incredible part was the realization that I was walking amongst the ruins of King Kashyapa's original city. Swimming pools, stone storehouses, and the foundations for buildings are all in place. The place was laid out with meticulous detail.

Kingsley and I were incredibly impressed with the experience and both felt that Sigiriya alone was worth the trip to Sri Lanka..