Sri Lanka Day 2 : The Majestic Medieval Fortress of Lanka

The day, I visited the majestic fortress of Sigiriya, the UNESCO heritage of Sri Lanka.

We arrived early before 9 am, to beat the crowd. Though there was a long queue at the ticket counter but we did managed to get our tickets and headed to the entrance.

The Queue

My ticket



Read the Map before the start...


It’s early in the morning, but the temperature was already impossible.

Chosen by King Kasyapa as the location of his capital, the grounds are covered with ancient walls, structures and ponds as the location of his palace was at the base of this magnificent rock structure. Walking towards this massive rock I felt a bit like I was walking through as the vastness of the ruins reminded me of the similar layout of the Cambodian grounds.



ruins on the ground



Octagonal pond

My adventure for the day to Sigiriya began at the foot before the 370-meter high rock fortress, where there were more than 1,200 steps which will lead me up to the rock’s summit. 

the rock ahead of me

Approaching the first stairs at the base of the rock, as I entered the palace ground, there is a big garden with some water retaining structures which are able to produce water till today and all credits to the man made reservoirs in the south of the rock. The gardens include a series of symmetric pools, channels and fountains that still spurt water even though after 1,500 years.

The garden was a combination of water channels, caves and boulders and terrace gardens. The gardens lead one to another until they lead me ultimately to the lion staircase up to the rock.

walls, ponds, moats

symmetric pools, channel and fountain spouts

To my fortunate, my shoe completely gave way before I even took my first step of stairs near the Boulder Garden and it was a real challenge for me to continue my walk up to the rock
Amidst the tropical heat, I strolled my way through a maze of grey and brown boulders, steps, platforms of metal stairs, and rocks with some lush trees.

the sole of my shoe...

There were few places of interest within the garden grounds before heading up the rock. The Cobra Head cave, which has a stone that looks like a Cobra shaped. Drip-ledges,if you notice this features of one the cave shelters is the presence of which prevent rainwater from flowing down into the caves and also the King's Audience Hall with its huge stone throne craved entirely from the rock.

Cobra Head 

A ruin occupied by a tenant - snake home

Cobra Head Cave

Drip-ledges carved

Drip-ledges

Ancient scriptures

After the Boulder garden the stairs heads up to the Terrace Garden. There are two massive brick stairways with limestone paving, which provide access from the Boulder Gardens through these gardens to the rock itself. 

the path from the entrance till the Boulder stairs

Boulder stairs

The paths leading to these stairs are possibly the only two which bear some resemblance to the original paths. One of these stairways passes a cave believed to have been a shrine for the goddess Abhrasthita (Aphrodite). 

the shrine beside the Boulder stairs

some unique formation on the rock that reassembles Lord Shiva's outline

The other, via a large archway created by two boulders, also provides access to the terraced gardens above. Both these stairways terminate in a landing located near the middle of the western face of the rock. Beam holes cut into the rock suggest that this landing may once have been covered. The Mirror Wall commences from this landing.

Boulder Archway

half up the boulder archway

Boulder archway from terrace landing

Approaching the rock itself we started to climb small stone steps leading to the sheer, flat side of the stone. Watch your steps as some are uneven and steep.

stairs after the garden terrace

steep and high stairs

reaching the rock

final stairs before the cave

stairs behind me....looks scary as it's steep

half way up to the rock

look out point to enjoy some breath taking views

the view, tree canopy

The Mirror Wall

After half way up through the Terrace Garden it leads up to the spiral rattling metal stairs to the rock face as there is a small cave which is filled with some of the amazing ancient paintings. It is a must not to miss these beautiful frescoes, which are delicately preserved and as colourful as when they were painted centuries ago. 

heading up to the metal spiral stairs

Spiral Stairs entrance

Narrow scary spiral stairs up to the Cave

As I climbed higher, views of the surrounding plains came into sight; the vast greenery sprawled beneath my feet, with Buddha statues and stupa's peeking above the tree canopy far in distance. The more steps as I climbed, the further the plains it stretched. 

view from the spiral stairs

the palace garden that I came through and a Buddha statue in the distance

Eventually, when I reached what appeared to be an enormous cave with colourful frescoes covering its walls. Adorning the rock faces were perfectly preserved with these colourful paintings of topless damsels believed to be the ladies of King Kasyapa but really don't know what were their roles in that kingdom 1,500 years ago.

the famous fresco on 20,000 LKR note

some of the frescoes of beautiful damsels in the cave

Today, most of these paintings have disappeared, leaving behind only the few remaining figures that have been restored to their original glory.

down the stairs

After the frescoes as I climbed down through the spiral metal stairs, I found yet another interesting spot called the Mirror Wall. Originally this wall,was made of brick masonry and white plastered which was so highly polished that the King could see himself whilst he walked alongside it. 

Mirror Wall path below..

close up of the vandalized wall

The Mirror Wall

Today, it is has been vandalized by visitors from as early as the 8th century. People from all walks of life have written on this wall which has damaged the shinning part of the wall. Now they have prevented anyone near to the wall from further damage by retaining the little of its originality.

Finally, I have made the 370 meter ascent to the summit with various shapes of steps - apparently more than 1000 of them! I was lucky in that, although very warm and hot, it was quite cloudy and very windy.
    

finally reached the 2nd half before the summit

the paw

The narrow entrance  eventually led to a fortress summit about halfway up the steep rock face resembled a gigantic animal’s paws towering majestically against the granite figure, leading to the palace garden on the summit this is how the famous Lion’s Gate  - Lion Rock got it’s name.

the paw entrance

the summit above

the metal stair up

I reached the large terrace which marks the half-way point on the ascent to the summit of the fortress. Before I continued to the last fleet of metal stairs, I took some rest to enjoy the view of the rock and the plateau around it.

Originally, there was a sculpted lion’s head with legs and paws flanking at the entrance, but the head collapsed years ago. Today, the lion’s paws are the most visible feature, greeting me as I entered to the fortress.

Imagine how large the head might have been…..!

I thought I have come to the end of stairs and steps, but there were more waiting ahead of me. This time rattling metal stairs bolted to the rocks. My leg and my shoe weren't helping me much on the climb and it was not too comfortable. 

A Malaysian from KL I met up there

It was also very crowded with tourists, so I had a good excuse to rest while waited to use the steps. There were many tourists and I was able to identify few Malaysian though we bumped into them in some other place too, what a small world after all. 

As I cleared the final stairs onto the rock fortress’s summit, my eyes were torn between watching my steps when my other shoe’s sole gave away too and taking in the view before me.

Once on top I was greeted with a truly magnificent view, it was almost as though the whole of Sri Lanka lay before me with the island stretching as far into the endless horizon, the morning sun had filled the valley below, various shades of greens and patches of lakes shimmering as it reflected the perfect blue morning sky and the glistening mountain tops in the far distance.

View from above the rock fort



Ruins



Mini Machu-Pichhu look alike

The terraced top of the rock were covered only with the foundations of buildings, pools and garden terraces. The view from the summit is wonderful and certainly worth the climb. Over the course of the centuries, the palace has been reduced to mere rubble, but it must have been an amazing sight of the fortress.

During the reign of King Kasyapa (AD 477-495),palace was built on the summit. Now it is like a maze of ruins, moats, crumbling terraces and walls. The brick outlines of ancient foundations criss-crossing the grassy surface gave a few clues to the many lives this rock has led.

Walls of ruins

As I wandered around the brick structures, I felt like it was easy to imagine just how elaborate this palace must have been. Otherwise likely I felt I was looking at a mini Machu-Piccu.

I was awed by the scale of it all and puzzled by the secrecy of this fortress, after all it’s no where as famous as Angkor Wat and I had no idea it existed before my visit to Sri Lanka. 

How could a palace of this magnitude standing high above the plains of Sri Lanka remain so unknown?

Considering the famous other world-renown landmarks around the world, I’m secretly hoping that Sigiriya stays this way. mysterious and unknown hidden with its secrets and beauty.

From up here everything is different. Plains and forests offer a unique show and the first thing that comes to mind is a thought to the king that elected this place as his home. 

I begin to decent down to the base; the hike down is equally exciting and much more difficult as the unevenness of the steps and the steepness. Furthermore, I was wearing :sole-less: shoe which didn't help me as the small stones we pricking my feet making it worst to walk.




the paw below

Somehow I managed to reach the base of the rock and as I walked through to the base of the limestone rock, I came across of some other interesting boulders and garden terraces till the exit of the palace ground. 

Snake man, playing the flute to a cobra in the basket and his holding a python

On our walk down we stopped to watch a snake charmer with a king cobra and a python. My sister was scared and she perpectually hid behind me while the cobra was out of its basket dancing to the music as the charmer played, while the python was crawling around him and the charmer was controlling it from straying away . The charmer was cool and knows how handle these reptiles but it was still frightening to see a real live snakes. I hated snakes though .

through boulders ( that's my sister )

this is what I conquered in a day...unbelievable I was up there..!!!

      Finally we completed conquering the Majestic Stone of Sri Lanka. My legs were sore as my shoes gave way. I was more eager to get into the bus because the tremendous heat was cooking my feet as I walked on the stones and sand. It took me longer than the expected hours since because my shoeless feet slowed me down.

Overall, Sigiriya with just a breath-taking views and majestic secrets hidden deep within it and it was worth an adventure.

Day 2 : Dambulla the Dusty Town

Word of caution- if you are afraid of heights and have anxiety or are easily scared, please think twice about doing this hike as most of the journey is up somewhat rattling metal stairs, bolted direction into the stone face and uneven steep stairs.