Sri Lanka. Climbing Sigiriya: Rocky Fortress of the Anuradhapura Empire
Located on a rocky plateau, the fortress city of Sigiriya is among Sri Lanka’s best known historical sites and one of Asia’s oldest examples of urban design. The story of the fortress city dates to the mid-5th century when King Dhatusena ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom (377 BC to 1017 AD). In 477, his son Kasyapa seized the throne from his brother Moggallana, rightful heir to the kingdom. Fearing an attack by forces loyal to Moggallana, King Kasyapa moved the royal palace 54 kilometers southeast, from Anuradhapura to a high volcanic plateau called Sigiriya.
Along with serving as a palace and fortress, Kasyapa wanted the new capital to be a place of natural and architectural beauty. Formal gardens fed by cisterns were built at the top of the plateau, while midway up the 180-meter rockface, a massive statue of a crouching lion was created as a gateway to the palace.
Having fled to India to raise an army, Moggallana returned in 495 and subsequently defeated Kasyapa in battle. Following Kasyapa’s suicide, King Moggallana restored Anuradhapura as Sri Lanka’s capital, leaving Sigiriya to fall into a state of neglect. After being occupied by Buddhist monks, the site was abandoned sometime in the 14th century. In 1831, Sigiriya was rediscovered by British Army Major Jonathan Forbes during a reconnaissance trip across Sri Lanka. Although the plateau and surrounding land was surveyed in the 1890s, the first extensive archaeological work of the site wasn’t initiated until 1982. Today, Sigiriya receives more than a million annual visitors and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our journey to Sigiriya began with a four-hour drive from Columbo, Sri Lanka’s capital city. After paying the entrance fee, we followed a stone pathway through the palace ground’s western entrance, once used exclusively by the royal family. Ahead, we could see steep sides of the enormous stone monolith. We continued across a moat and past an impressive array of gardens, pools, and canals. While some gardens and pools have been excavated, others remain untouched beneath jungle vegetation and debris. The western approach served as a royal park with symmetrical gardens surrounded by three ramparts.
Gardens on the west side are connected to a sophisticated hydraulic system fed by cisterns at the top of the plateau. Once featuring a large pavilion, the eastern area was used as a ceremonial precinct. Passing a boulder garden, the walkway curved north, ending at a brick staircase between two enormous paws, remains of the crouching lion that featured head and shoulders protruding from the rockface. The name Sigiriya means “lion’s rock.”
Around the base of the plateau are the foundations of the lower palace. Added since the site because a tourist destination, a 1,200-step metal staircase leads to pools, gardens, and foundations of the upper palace. Sitting 180 meters above the plain, the plateau’s summit provides an unobstructed view of the surrounding landscape. It is said that on reaching the top, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke suggested that Sigiriya might be the eighth wonder of the world. Indeed, archeologists and urban planners have documented how Sigiriya blends symmetry found in the arrangement of pools and gardens with asymmetrical patterns of nature created by the boulder garden and other features.
