One of Asia's major archaeological sites, Sigiriya presents a unique concentration of fifth-century urban planning,
architecture, gardening, engineering, hydraulic technology and art.
Centred on a massive rock rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain,
Sigiriya s location is one of considerable natural beauty and
historical interest. An area of ancient settlement lying between the
historic capitals of Anuradhapura
and Polonnaruva, the Sigiriya plain still retains much of its forest
cover, and many of its present village settlements and man-made village
reservoirs date back to the first millennium B.C. In its present form,
Sigiriya itself is essentially a walled-and-moated royal capital of the
fifth century A.D., with a palace complex on top of the rock, elaborate
pleasure gardens, extensive moats and ramparts, and the well-known
paintings on the western face of the rock.
The history of Sigiriya, however, extends from prehistoric times to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The earliest evidence of human habitation is in the Aligala rock-shelter which lies to the east of the Sigiriya rock. This is a major prehistoric site of the mesolithic period, with an occupational sequence starting nearly five thousand years ago and extending up to early historic times. The historical period at Sigiriya begins about the third century B.C., with the establishment of a Buddhist monastic settlement on the rock-strewn western and northern slopes of the hill around the rock. As in other similar sites of this period, partially man¬made rock-shelters or 'caves', with deeply-incised protective grooves or drip¬ledges, were created in the bases of several large boulders. There are altogether 30 such shelters, many of them dated by the donatory inscriptions carved in the rock face near their drip-ledges to a period between the third century B.C., and the first century A.D. The inscriptions record the granting of these caves to the Buddhist monastic order to be used as residences.
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka - BBC World Wonders - You Tube video
Panoramic picture of Sigiriya in www.360cities.net
Second Water Garden, Sigiriya in Sri Lanka
Ruins of the Palace Complex at the top of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka
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