Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This wall was coated with a smooth glaze upon which visitors felt impelled to note their
impressions of the women in the gallery above - or so says local legend. The graffiti was
inscribed between the 6th and 14th centuries.
You'll have to look hard beyond the modern mess to see the ancient messages. One typ-
ical graffito reads, 'The ladies who wear golden chains on their breasts beckon me. As I
have seen the resplendent ladies, heaven appears to me as not good.' Another reads, 'A
deer-eyed young woman of the mountainside arouses anger in my mind. In her hand she
had taken a string of pearls and in her looks she has assumed rivalry with us.'
The graffiti is of great interest to scholars because they show the development of the
Sinhala language and script, and because they demonstrate an appreciation of art and
beauty.
Lion's Paws CARVINGS
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At the northern end of the rock the narrow pathway emerges on to the large platform from
which the rock derived its later name - the Lion Rock, Sigiriya. HCP Bell, the British ar-
chaeologist responsible for an enormous amount of archaeology in Sri Lanka, found the
two enormous lion paws 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 was
Sakya-Simha (Lion of the Sakya Clan) and that the truths he spoke of were as powerful as
the sound of a lion's roar.
The 5th-century lion has since disappeared, apart from the first steps and the paws.
Reaching the top means clambering up across a series of grooves cut into the rock; fortu-
nately there is a handrail.
Summit SUMMIT
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The spectacular terraced summit of the rock covers 1.6 hectares. This is thought to be the
site chosen by King Kassapa for his fortified capital after he had assassinated his father.
Today only the low foundations of structures exist, and the remains are visually unim-
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