SIGIRIYA - THE LION MOUNTAIN

Sigiriya - Lion Rock



A Photo Essay


Sigiriya is an archaeological site in North Central Sri Lanka. It contains the ruins of an ancient palace complex, built during the reign of King Kasyapa (477AD - 495 AD). It is one of the 7 world heritage sites in Sri Lanka and is one of it's most popular tourist destinations.

Here's a photo-essay form my trip there last July. Quiet amazing really.
A vantage.

To start of Sigiriya, was a palace complex cum fortress built on a rather unique granite mountain [the one that looks like a giant boulder in the first picture].
The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts.

As I already said and now to the moat.

Lower Sigiriya , was part of a sprawling garden complex adorned by large lotus pools.

Now, what else ? Main entrance [imagine allot of Palace guards or some meditating monks what ever keeps you happy]

And Up we go [I realize I'm quiet unfit] a few breathless moments later. Kings have harems, what can we do ?

Great frescos, but not as good as Ajanta and Ellora.
Well remember I showed you a picture and told you it was the "Main Entrance", I lied. This is the main entrance. Was originally shaped as a Lion (hence the name of Lion Rock), now all that remains are the paws.

[I put my dad in the picture for reference, see those paws are big]
Some more stairs later, we're up [finally].Here the view from the top.

The original roof-top swimming pool, Ladies and Gentlemen

Yours Truly

Enjoy the view




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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your blog. it has been really very helpful. i am from istanbul, turkey..

Anonymous said...

Dear Akshay,

Good attempt.It made me nostalgic of our visit. How about some touch of the paranoid king, who got all this made.
Anyway thanks for downloading your photographs.