24/01/2015
Sigiriya, located in the central province is 92 miles from Colombo and 10 miles from Dambulla, was once recognized as a world wonder. It is one of the most historic places not just in Sri Lanka but also in the world. Sigiriya rock fortress was built by King Kasyapa who ruled 1600 years ago between 477 and 495AD. King Kashyapa fled from his capital Anuradhapura, with the guilt and fear he felt after murdering his father, plastering him in a wall.Having decided to move his capital, King Kasyapa had a vision to build the fortress on the inspiration he gained from Alakamanda. In Buddhist mythology Alakamanda was a beautiful and prosperous city of the gods. It was said to exist in a faraway place at a great elevation. Its ruler was Kuvera, the god of wealth and plenty. King Kashyapa built Sigiriya in 18 years.Sigiriya was the largest and most sophisticated single construction project ever undertaken in ancient Sri Lanka; it has been constructed with beautiful multicolored pavilions, palaces and halls.
They erected grand staircases leading up to the base of the rock and then an unusual parapet wall which precariously hugged the side of the near vertical rock face as it wound its way around the western side of the rock. This wall had such a high reflective luster that it came to be known as the Mirror Wall. They then painted the entire surface of the sinister-looking black rock in a coat of white paint so that it appeared like a massive cloud floating above the treetops. Then on the western surface of the rock, they painted the largest portrait gallery in the world. This spectacular gallery consisted of over 500 stunning multi-colored frescoes depicting lightly clad semi-naked females
The wall encloses a gallery paved with polished marbled slabs. There are no verses on the mirror wall dated before the 8th century. Therefore, roughly for two centuries, no visitor had scribbled on the wall. But 685 verses have been discovered, which is believed to belong to 8th, 9th and 10th centuries. various people wrote songs to the beautiful Sigiriya cloud nymphs, some of them were nobles, merchants, travelers and Buddhist monks. The themes of their songs varied on subjects like love, satires, and curses, witty ironical or sad celebrations of festive or painful experiences Verses on the mirror wall suggest that there were more than 500 figures, painted on the Sigiriya rock. But there are only twenty-two figures now remaining. But these few figures have colours so bright as if they were done recently. Many believed that the Sigiriya paintings were influenced by the Buddhist paintings of Ajantha caves. At present Sigiriya is listed as a must visit site among the tourists who visit Sri Lanka.
