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Sigiriya

Someone once said that a visit to 5th century Sigiriya results in a very agreeable feeling that you have seen one of the most fascinating and romantic spots that the old world scenes of any country can offer. We have been many times to its crags. And it has always been the same.

The warm red tones of its cliffs, the beautifully worked quartz stairs leading up to its past, its fading galleries and terraces, the picturesque layout of its massive ruins, its most precious and world celebrated maidens, the grandeur of the forests which surrounds it, and the water of its lakes with the dark and mysterious reflections amidst the lotus leaves that spread on the surface, all combining to form an impression that will never fade from your memory.

The romance in the air is exhilarating specially if you are fortunate to feast your eyes on Sigiriya rock in the early morning, when its environs ring with bird calls and squirrels, mongoose and the like frisk about unashamedly. Someone once described the sighting of the rock first thing in the morning as a wave towering over you and just about to break that you will not forget it. Yes it is true …. you will never forget it and keep going back to it - like I do.

The gardens of Sigiriya are fascinating and sometimes I think it is my favourite part of the whole complex. Here artists and hydraulic engineers combined their skills and the result is captivating. A lovers paradise, a haven for meditation, a writers tease and a photographers challenge.

It is a unique example of one of the worlds oldest landscaped gardens. It is said that its historical importance lies essentially in two factors; their antiquity and degree of preservation and their ingenious combination on a grand scale of at least three traditions of ancient landscape gardening.

According to Sigiriya scholars three distinct but interlinked forms of garden are found here: the Water gardens, Cave and Boulder gardens and Stepped or Terrace gardens.

Out of these the symmetrical and geometrical Water gardens are distinguished as the most extensive and intricate.

The largest of these gardens consist of a central island surrounded by water linked with causeways. The entire garden is a walled enclosure with gateways at each causeway.

The Fountain gardens are celebrated for their elegance and include two long deep pools with stepped cross sections. Draining into these are shallow serpentine streams paved with marble slabs .

Here are the fountains consisting of circular limestone plates with perforations which are fed by underground water conduits operating on the simple principles of gravity and pressure. The fountains operate in rainy weather even today.

On a higher level are more terraces and halls. And in the shadows of a northwestern corner is a large octagonal pool and terrace at the base of a towering boulder. Here is nature's romances - a dramatic juxtaposition of rock and water. A raised podium and a drip ledge are proof of a once idyllic bathing pool.

Another delightful feature found here is the sitala maliga or cool palaces (summer palaces or water pavilions). These are four large moated islands. Bridges built or cut into the rock provide access to these palaces.

Also forming part of Sigiriya's water gardens is a miniature water garden. At least five distinct units have been identified each combining pavilions of brick and limestone with paved water retaining structures and winding water courses. A striking feature here are the pebbled and marbled floors covered by shallow slow moving water causing mesmerizing appeal said to create interesting visual and sound effects. Another distinctive aspect scholars have identified here is that this miniature garden has a far more complex interplay of tile-roofed buildings, water retaining structures and water courses than elsewhere in Sigiriya - even more intricate than the beautiful Fountain garden.

Intricately connected with the water gardens is the double moat that surrounds it and the great artificial lake that spreads southwards from the Sigiriya rock. Archaeology Department excavation has revealed that the pools were interlinked by a network of underground conduits fed by the Sigiriya lake and probably connected at various points with the surrounding moats.

Romancing with the water gardens are Sigiriya's Boulder gardens. It is in marked contrast to the symmetry and geometry of the water gardens. It consists of a number of winding pathways in and out of the artistic clusters or solitude large natural boulders, its charm and romance springing from its very unorganized state. According to scholars upon every single rock or boulder in this garden was a building or pavilion.

Today the honeycomb of holes left on these boulders were infact the foundations of ancient brick walls and of timber columns and beams. Notable features here include the Cistern rock and the Audience Hall rock where upon its flat summit is a 5 metre throne carved out of the same living rock and the Preaching rock. Distinct in artistic style and nature from the water and boulder gardens is Sigiriya's Terraced gardens.

This garden is fashioned out of the natural hill at the base of the rock by the construction of a series of rubble retaining walls each terrace rising over the other and running in a roughly concentric plan around the rock.

The red brick built staircase with limestone steps pass through the terrace gardens on the west connecting the pathways of the boulder gardens to the main Sigiriya rock. From here is provided access to the belly of the rock to what is in effect the uppermost terrace, the Lion Staircase plateau with its chambers, buildings and pavilions and the great Lion itself.

A palace filled with intrigue, a citadel and a royal garden

Natural archways in the boulder garden

A massive monolith of red stone rises some 600 feet from the green scrub jungle. It is the spectacular rock fortress of king Kasyapa the patricide king . But Sigiriya is no gloomy fortification but a exclusive royal city spread with extensive pleasure gardens, water gardens, fountain gardens, rock gardens, bathing pools, summer houses with art galleries, pavilions, halls, terraces, and its crowning glory - a palace on its summit celebrated as an unique architectural feat.

At its earliest this site was a hermitage of Buddhist monks. Its importance as a seat of royalty is attributed to the 5th century when legend, romance, passion, conspiracy, and apprehension were the ingredients that made up its historic story. Here we present a selection of pictures that reflect the variety that is the mood of Sigiriya.

By Ksiahnie S. Fernando.
Daily Mirror - September 19, 2005

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Updated April 15, 2007
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