Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hard yards of ascent and descent). Find a quiet spot and listen to the gentle gurgle of water
and the songs of birds.
which extend from the foot of the rock; bathing pools, little islands with pavilions that
were used as dry-season palaces, and trees.
once formed the bases of buildings. The steplike depressions in the sides of boulders were
the foundations of brick walls and timber columns. The cistern and audience-hall rocks are
impressive.
The rock rises sheer and mysterious from the jungle. A series of steps leads up through
the boulders at its base to the western face, and then ascends it steeply.
Frescoes
ART
Halfway up the rock there's an open-air spiral stairway leading up from the main route to a
long, sheltered gallery in the sheer rock face.
In this niche is a series of paintings of buxom, wasp-waisted women, popularly believed
to represent either
apsaras
(celestial nymphs) or King Kassapa's concubines.
Protected from the sun in the sheltered gallery, the paintings remain in remarkably good
condition, their colours still glowing. They're at their best in the late-afternoon light.
Modern theory suggests the female forms represent aspects of Tara - a bodhisattva and
one of the most important figures in Tantric Buddhism. They are similar in style to the
rock paintings at Ajanta in India, but have a specific character in their classical realist
style. No one knows the exact dates of the impressive frescoes, though it's unlikely they
date as far back as the 5th century (when King Kassapa reigned).
Mirror Wall
ART
Beyond the fresco gallery detour, the path clings to the sheer side of the rock and is protec-
ted on the outside by a 3m-high wall.
