Sigiriya

Shrouded in mystery and mystic aura:

Nilma Dole

Sigiriya took top honours by being the most significant wonder in Sri Lanka which has already been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Not only does this stupendous rock fortress, ‘Lion’s Rock’ or ‘Mount Remembrance’ the great palace of King Kassapa (AD 477 - 495) but the intricate irrigation works, water gardens and reservoirs make it a breathtaking monument.

Sigiriya has been a pivotal natural wonder where spirituality is sandwiched by ambitious royalty where the ‘Mahavamsa’ states different aspects of the story of King Kassapa.

In one, he is the son of King Dhatusena who murdered his father by plastering him within the walls of Sigiriya and seizing the throne which rightfully belonged to his brother Mogallana, Dhatusena’s son by the true queen. With a vow to get revenge, Mogallana escaped to India and raised an army to overthrow King Kassapa who knew of his brother’s intentions and decided to build Sigiriya on a magma plug in a bid to save himself.

Mogallana finally arrived and declared war but during the battle, Kassapa’s armies abandoned him and he committed suicide by falling on his sword.

Other stories say that the battle-elephant on which Kassapa was mounted changed course just to get to a better fighting position/place but the army misinterpreted it as the King fleeing. Thereafter the army abandoned the king altogether.

Moggallana returned the capital to Anuradapura and turned Sigiriya into a monastery complex. Alternative stories have that King Dhatusena was Sigiriya’s cheif architect and Kassapa took over after to finish the work in honour of his father.

Some popular stories revolve around Kassapa as a playboy king, with Sigiriya as his pleasure palace and even so, Kassapa’s fate falls unto him despicably. In some versions he is assassinated by poison administered by a concubine whereas in others he cuts his own throat when isolated in his final battle.

According to other sources, there have been indications that some of the frescoes have been destroyed due to the fact that it was a religious refuge by Buddhist monks as it wasn’t correct to have a ‘roving eye’ while praying.

Today, Sigiriya is getting help from the people of Japan who have given the Ministry of Cultural Affairs a grant for building a landmark museum provided by the JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Development) agency at a sum of Rs.480 million.

Director General of the Central Cultural Fund and Professor of Archaeology, University of Peradeniya and historian, Prof. Sudarshan Seneviratne, said that the Sigiriya should be promoted as a Tourist Village where visitors can not only discover the legend of Sigiriya for themselves and climb up to the summit but also enlighten themselves on the various cultural and traditional aspects of the world-renowned fortress. Prof.

Seneviratne who is also the advisor to the UNESCO on declaring world heritage sites said that Sigiriya needs to boost its economy by not just delving into tourist aspects but also thinking of long-term viable solutions to protect and preserve Sigiriya as climate change continues to escalate in the world.

With effect, it would be beneficial, he said if a helping hand is given to the community if tourists stay for more than 5 hours. “It is good that today’s economically sound tourist wants to go to a destination which offers everything from the beaches to Ayurveda treatments and most importantly, heritage sites which is prevalent in our Cultural Triangle making Sri Lanka a bio diverse and culturally-renowned hotspot destination. “It is high time we uplift our cultural and historical heritage to make it better for our tourism sector to develop,” he commented.

Cultural Affairs Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that by way of protection and preservation of Sigiriya, it will soon be a reality to make it an eighth wonder.

“We aim to develop a cultural-oriented tourism all around the country and already around the world, the response for visiting Sri Lanka is immense despite the current situation,” he said. “Our present and future generations should realise how important it is to preserve and uplift Sigiriya which is a national treasure,” the Minister concluded.

Oldest landscaped gardens

The Gardens of the Sigiriya - Vital aspects of the site is among the oldest landscaped gardens in the world according to Prof. Seneviratne. The gardens are divided into three distinct but linked forms; water gardens, Cave and boulder gardens, and terraced gardens.

a) The Water Gardens: Seen in the central section of the western precinct the location for three main gardens.

The first garden comprises an island surrounded by water that is connected to the main precinct using four causeways, with gateways placed at the head of each causeway. This garden is built according to an ancient garden form known as char bhag, and is one of the oldest surviving models of this form.

The second contains two long, deep pools set on either side of the path. Two shallow, serpentine streams lead to these pools. Fountains made of circular limestone plates are placed here.

Underground water conduits supply water to these fountains which are still functional, especially during the rainy season.

Two large islands are located on either side of the second water garden. Summer palaces are built on the flattened surfaces of these islands. Two more islands are located further to the north and the south. These islands are built in a similar manner to the island in the first water garden.

The third garden is situated on a higher level than the other two. It contains a large, octagonal pool with a raised podium on its northeast corner.

The large brick and stone wall of the citadel is on the eastern edge of this garden. Special attributes: The water gardens are built symmetrically on an east-west axis. They are connected with the outer moat on the west and the large artificial lake to the south of the Sigiriya rock.

All the pools are also interlinked using an underground conduit network fed by the lake, and connected to the moats.

A miniature water garden is located to the west of the first water garden, consisting several small pools and water courses. This recently discovered smaller garden appears to have been built after the Kassapan period, possibly between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.

b) The cave/boulder gardens: Comprising of several large boulders linked with winding pathways. The boulder gardens extend from the northern slopes to the southern slopes of the hills at the foot of Sigiriya rock. Most of these boulders had a building or pavilion upon them. There are cuttings on these boulders that were used as footings for brick walls and beams.

The audience hall of the king was situated in the boulder garden, the remains of which are seen on the flattened and polished summit of a large boulder. There is also a five metre long granite throne in this hall.

The throne is carved from the boulder itself, and is not separated from it. Another notable feature in the boulder garden is the Cistern rock, named after a large, carved cistern on top of the rock. A large archway, created by two boulders, provides access to the terraced gardens.

c) The Terraced Gardens: The terraced gardens are formed from the natural hill at the base of the Sigiriya rock.

A series of terraces, each rising above the other, connect the pathways of the boulder garden to the staircases on the rock. These have been created by the construction of brick walls, and are located in a roughly concentric plan around the rock. The path through the terraced gardens is formed by a limestone staircase. From this staircase, there is a covered path on the side of the rock, leading to the uppermost terrace where the lion staircase is situated.

d) The Mirror Wall and Spiral Stairs leading to the Frescoes: Originally this wall was so well polished that the king could see himself whilst he walked alongside it.

Made of a kind of porcelain, the wall is now partially covered with verses scribbled by visitors to the rock. Well preserved, the mirror wall has verses dating from the 8th century.

People of all types wrote on the wall, on varying subjects such as love, irony, and experiences of all sorts.

e) The Frescoes: The paintings would have covered most of the western face of the rock, covering an area 140 metres long and 40 metres high. There are references in the graffiti to 500 ladies in these paintings. Some more frescos different from the popular collection can be seen elsewhere on the rock surface, for example on the surface of the location called the “Cobra Hood Cave”.

f) Sigiriya Site Plan: Sigiriya is considered one of the most important urban planning sites of the first millennium, and the site plan is considered very elaborate and imaginative.

The plan combined concepts of symmetry and asymmetry to intentionally interlock the man-made geometrical and natural forms of the surroundings. On the west side of the rock lies a park for the royals, laid out on a symmetrical plan; the park contains water retaining structures, including sophisticated surface/subsurface hydraulic systems, some of which are working even today.

The south contains a man made reservoir, these were extensively used from previous capital of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Five gates were placed at entrances. The more elaborate western gate is thought to be reserved for the royals.

Disputes & truths

Sigiriya has so many disputes to offer. The foremost dispute is the purpose on which it is built. Scholars entertain diverse opinions on the purpose it is built. Some opine that King Kassapa built it as a military fortress to protect from his brother Mugalan. Some maintain it was a meditation monastery.

However as Dr Senarat Paranavithana categorically points out, artistic remains give the lie to the belief that the Sigiri was a military fortress. He explains that it was nothing but a resplendent fortress built for King Kassapa's comforts.

"The palace on the summit of the rock, the gallery and the ornamental features on the hill-side, were of no use for purposes of defense, and it was not to protect himself from enemeies, as some modern writers aver, that Kasyapa built this unique residence and took up his abode there. As the Chulavansa categorically states, Sigiri was built as a replica of Alakamanda paradise on top of Mount Kailasa; and Kasyapa resided there as the embodiment of Kuvera on earth." (Dr Paranavithana's Sinhalayo)

He has been posthumously criticised for this view on Sigiri. Professors A Liyanagamage and Siri Gunasinghe provide a scholarly backing to Paranavithana's concept. They maintain that evidence in Mahawamsa is not strong enough to convince the theory of Sigiri as a military fortress. As Gunasinghe mentions, Mugalan had been away in India for 18 years and posed no threat to him.

Nishantha Gunawardena a historian living in America exposes a Chinese record from 527 CE of a letter sent by Kassapa to the Chinese court which indicates that he kept good diplomatic contacts with the outer world rather than being stuck down in a fortress. He also accepts the fact that the chronicles contain loopholes. He observes that the chapter 40 in the sequence of Kassapa's legend is missing in Chulavamsa mysteriously. Some scholars believe that this chapter never existed.

Dr Paranavithana comes across another story in inscriptions about the two sons of Dhatusena, which maintains that Kassapa did not actually kill his father. The story explains how Kassapa fulfilled his father's wishes by building a strong rock fortress. Prof Gunasinghe also supports the idea that Mahavamsa was wrong in labelling Kassapa as a patricide.

Scholars also entertain the theory that the frescoes have Ajantha influence. Prof Gunasinghe sees no convincing evidence to prove this theory, though he observes similarities between Ajantha and Sigiri frescoes.

This theory sprang because Ajantha frescoes were discovered and were already discussed when Sigiri frescoes came to the scene. Scholars have different opinions about visitors and the scribes. Prof Paranavithana suggests most of them were just ordinary visitors whose writings portray the period they lived in.

This period shows a high literacy rate in the then society. Gunasinghe's logic is that Kassapa should be understood to see Sigiri in proper insights. Kassapa is introduced as a patricide in Mahawamsa. However Gunasinghe's theory is that the Mahawamsa authors did it on purpose for two reasons: Kassapa's mother is low-born and for that matter the Mahavihara clergy did not have a good attitude about him.

On the chronicle narration of Dhatusena's torturing his own sister, Gunasinghe raises the question as to how a great ruler as disclosed in chronicles itself would have ever done any such thing. And the reasons the chronicles lay down are not material evidence for it says that Dhatusena did so because her son had whipped his wife, Dhatusena's daughter.

The frescoes have sparked disputes too. Some take them as celestial maidens, while some take them as Kassapa's concubines. Dr Paranavithana believes it is a result of court ladies and other terrestrial beauties of the time handing down the job of painting them to painters. Dr. Gunasinghe disputes this theory saying that the frescoes are mere human imaginations like Kalidasa's Megha Duta.

- Sachitra

Guardians of the rock fortress

Rock Bee attacks on visitors of Sigiriya had become a common news. Thousands of deadly winged warriors, resembling military troops set visitors in full flight after swarms descended upon them.

These bees are believed to be the reincarnation of the soldiers of King Kassapa, the creator of the legendary rock fortress. It is their duty to protect their residence despite sacrificing their lives for the cause for the bee sting though extremely painful for victims results in the death of the bee.

Loud noises, hot weather and sudden movements rouse the normally peaceful bees. Local newspapers as well as signs in the Sigiriya compound warn visitors against ‘bees, wasps or hornets’ of the ancient fortress.

However expert on bees in Sri Lanka Dr. R.W.K. Punchihewa had stated that the dwellers of the rock fortress are a species of bees better known as Giant Honey bees or Rock Bees, scientifically termed Apis dorsata.

In Sinhala they are called bambara and choose exposed areas like below cliff overhangs, tree limbs or even buildings to build hives.

Each colony is made up of a single vertical comb covered with a mass of bees. Unlike the oriental bees, Rock bees do not use enclosed cavities, a reason which is attributed to their offensive behaviour.

Stinging bee attacks have been an ongoing issue in Sigiriya for many years.

Many bee attacks have taken place within the walls of the World Heritage Site in the past, the most recent one being at the end of March this year, forcing the authorities to close the site temporarily. Is there no permanent solution for this problem? Destroying the hives is out of the question as many sees this as a removal of a part of the heritage site itself. Bees are also an important link in the area’s ecological chain.

Their disposal can have harmful effects on the pollination cycle of plants. There is also the chance that the bees will return and build up their hive on the original place.

Dr. Punchihewa had pointed out that the most appropriate solution lies in the ability to control the bees’ flying route through ecological means.

As bees depend on collecting nectar, the route to their prize must be the same as that taken by visitors’ passages.

If their paths’ cross and a bees is killed in an attempt to drive him away, a strange odour reaches the soldier bees preparing them for attack.

Steps like building a barrier of vegetation to deviate the paths of the bees as well as planting trees to lure bees into building nests on them should have been taken some years back as Dr. Punchihewa had briefed the authorities on the topic. He expressed that it is not too late to take up the work of building trenches, selecting plants and cultivating them as it enhances the beauty of the site as well as proves to be the best solution for the problem.

- Ruwini