“The World Heritage Site of Sigiriya refuses to reveal its secrets easily, and you’ll have to climb a series of vertiginous staircases attached to sheer walls to reach the top. On the way you’ll pass a number of quite remarkable frescoes and a pair of colossal lion’s paws carved into the bedrock. The surrounding landscape – lily-pad-covered moats, water gardens and cave shrines – only add to Sigiriya’s rock-star appeal.”
Excerpt From Lonely Planet Sri Lanka.
I set off, on foot, from my accommodation (Sigiri Lion Lodge) at exactly 06:00, just as it was starting to get light. Already there were lots of vehicles heading in the same direction as me – it was going to be busy at the site.
Unbeknown to me even before I had awoken people were queuing up at the entrance ready to buy their ticket and make the climb in preparation for sunrise. I got to meet all of these people, making their way down, as I was making my way up!
History of Sigiriya Rock – The Kasyapa story.
Sigiriya comes dramatically into the political history of Sri Lanka in the last quarter of the 5th century AC. This was in the reign of King Dhatusena (459-477AC), who ruled from the ancient capital Anuradhapura.
A palace coup by Prince Kasyapa, the king’ s son by a non-royal consort, and Migara, the king’ s nephew and army commander, led to the seizure of the throne by Kasyapa, and ultimately, the execution of Dhatusena.
Kasyapa, much reviled for his patricide, established a new capital at Sigiriya, while his half-brother, the crown prince Moggallana, went into exile in India. The chronicle account (displayed on the glass wall in the entrance lobby), ascribes a reign of 18 years to Kasyapa, 477 to 495 AC, although he may have reigned longer. The king and his master-builders gave the site its present name, Sinha-giri, the ‘Lion Mountain,’ and were responsible for most of the remains that we see at Sigiriya today.
Kasyapa’s reign came to end with the return of Moggallana, and Kasyapa’s defeat and suicide on the battlefield. Moggallana had returned with twelve companions, and raised an army in Sri Lanka. The chronicle account describes how Kasyapa’s forces fled without giving battle, and Kasyapa, seeing that the day was lost, “with his dagger cut his throat, [then] raised it on high and sheathed it in its scabbard.” Moggallana made Anuradhapura the capital once again. Sigiriya became a monastery, along with the neighbouring monasteries at Pidurangala and Ramakale.
The Lion’s Paws.
At the northern end of the rock, a narrow pathway emerges on to the large platform from which the site derives its name – Sigiriya (from sinha-giri) means ‘Lion Rock’. HCP Bell, the British archaeologist responsible for an enormous amount of archaeology in Sri Lanka, found the two enormous lion paws (map Google map) when excavating here in 1898.
At one time a gigantic brick lion sat at this end of the rock, and the final ascent to the top commenced with a stairway that led between the lion’s paws and into its mouth. The lion symbolism serves as a reminder to devotees ascending the rock that Buddha.
The rocky projection known as the Cobra Hood Cave earned its name because the overhang resembles a fully opened cobra’s hood. The plastered interior of the cave was once embellished with floral and animal paintings; a couple of faint traces remain. Below the drip ledge is an inscription from the 2nd century BC that indicates it belonged to Chief Naguli, who donated it to a monk.
