Kashyapa’s dream sky kingdom

Charmaine Fernando

Once used as a rock cave mountain monastery dating back to 3rd century BC donated to the Buddhist Sangha by devotees was later made in to a garden city with unparalleled architectural prowess by King Kashyapa about 477-495 AD, where he built himself a kingdom nothing short of a dream.

The breathtaking view from the summit of the rock citadel is amazing and proved a haven for the run-away prince who found a safe sanctuary within its precincts.

Parricide’s at heart; Architect in soul

The Mahavamsa, accuses Kashyapa for being a parricide who murdered his father, King Dhatusena, by walling him up, alive, blinded by his greed for the throne which rightfully belonged to Mogallana, his brother.

Then he, in a bid to escape the armies of his brother, built a safe haven on the summit of Sigiriya.

It is astounding how a man with such inhuman qualities would, under the given circumstances and emotional state, create such an indescribably magnificent architectural masterpiece in the sky on a solitary monolith rising 200 feet above the surrounding plains.

It is unfortunate that he who built his palace atop a summit did not live long enough to enjoy its fascinating escapades but committed suicide at the foot of the rock where he built his dream kingdom of the sky when the rightful heir to the throne, Moggalana, arrived with his army to capture him.

On his demise Sigiriya reverted to its original state as a monastery with its conducive idyllic backdrop until the 14th century dawned.

Mirror-wall built to reflect cave paintings

The famed grafitti on the mirror wall at Sigiriya has baffled many a visitor down the ages. It’s where the visitors of yore scribbled their emotions and penned their love poems in honour of the Sigiri maidens and among them were kings, monks, a novice, a guard, noblemen, ladies and a smith who represented various social strata. Nearly 1500 writings have now been deciphered. But what captures one’s imagination is not necessarily the graffiti alone; it is the lime plaster of the brickwork masonry that was polished to such an extent that it reflected the paintings on the wall placed on the opposite side.

First lines of poetic verse in Sri Lanka

Professor Senerat Paranavitana’s first study and publication, depicted the social, literary and creative activities and belongs roughly to the eighth to tenth centuries.

Although we may refer to the graffiti as an act of vandalism at that time, it amazingly, reflected the earliest recorded poetry found in Sri Lanka.

It is interesting to note that all these hundreds of love sonnets are inspired by the beautiful maidens of Sigiriya.

Sigiriya, with its historical tale that evoke and stir the imagination and its amazingly beautiful frescoes, precariously positioned on cave walls, the scientifically designed moats, the ramparts, the water gardens and ponds that duplicate mirror-like design lay-out on either side, will down the ages, amaze, enthrall, intrigue and fascinate those who will visit this World Heritage Site, again and again