Travel Day 1117 – Sigiriya, SRI LANKA
It was finally the big day of visiting what was probably the most hyped site of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle, the UNESCO enlisted Ancient Rock City of Sigiriya…
UNESCO Ancient Rock City of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka
Obviously I did what had to be done: Getting up early, eating the pre-arranged breakfast and standing by 7am at the ticket counter with enough snacks and water in my bag that I could have survived the entire day within the compound. Since I had to spend a not really justifiable amount of 30 USD to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sigiriya, at least I wanted to make sure that I could spend as much time inside as it seemed fit for all the money spend…
My calculations paid off. While yesterday evening there still had been bus loads of local people running round and climbing up the rock of Sigiriya, now at 7am there were only one or two tourists arriving with their guides. Luckily they seemed to focus on the ruins in the garden area first, giving me the change to be the first person climbing up on the rock. Not only did this give me the chance to take some photos of the summit without the usual crowds, but also it was possible to sit down and enjoy the tranquility of this windswept place for almost one entire hour before everyone else arrived to see the ruins atop Sigiriya Rock…
Lion’s Paws at the Entrance to Sigiriya Rock, Sri Lanka
Surprisingly enough but nobody seemed to fully know what this rock was once used for and why it had all these ruins on top of it. There had been some talk about a once existing monastery, a fortress or a palace, but obviously there was not really a lot of evidence for any of these things. Actually my book claimed that a monastery was the most likely use, but even this didn’t make too much sense to me as it appeared much too difficult and expensive to maintain such an extended monastery on top of Sigiriya Rock…
Not only was it difficult to get up and down from the rock, especially before the steel stairs were built, but also there was no food or water supply. Everything had to be carried up and as it seemed, initially there were only little grooves hammered into the rock and one had to literally climb up to reach the top. With bags of food on the back this kind of climb must have been impossible so the only way to actually get food and water supplies to the top would have been by crane or winch. So in any case, Sigiriya Rock was clearly not a self-sufficient place and it was depending on the city below for constant supplies…
UNESCO Ruins atop Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka
Since there was evidence that this 180 meter rising rock was already inhabited since the 3rd century BC, it seemed possible that it had been initially a site for meditation or Buddhist retreats until King Kassapa I moved his capital from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya. He had killed his own father to get hold of the throne, but fearing revenge from his brother or other loyal people of his father, he is said to have built a fortified palace on the top of Sigirya Rock in 477 AD. If this theory was true then Sigiriya could have been in fact all three things at a certain time, a monastery, a palace and a fortress…
When Kassapa I was finally killed, the capital was returned to Anuradhapura and Sigiriya Rock might have returned to a rather monastic retreat use again. But during the short period of time when Sigiriya was possibly a capital city, probably most of the splendid construction had happened. There were even some erotic frescoes of nicely proportioned, bare breasted women added in a cove half way up the rock, as well as a gigantic lion through which mouth one used to enter to climb up the rock. But unfortunately of this gigantic lion only the paws remained today, making Sigiriya also known as the Lion’s Rock…
Sexy Fresco of Bare Breasted Women at Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka
For me personally the ancient UNESCO city of Sigiriya provided a day filling program. As I was exploring every inch of this exciting site, on top of the rock as well as on the ground, I was only happy that I brought enough food and water to maintain my sweaty presence between the ruins until the day was almost coming to an end. Yeah, Sigiriya came with an extremely high price tag, but at the end of the day I was happy that I had spent the money and seen this really unique rock city in the middle of the jungle…
Find all Sigiriya Photos here.
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