Sigiriya – now that’s what I call special

Day 8 – I must confess that despite having to get up at 5am to get there before it got unbearably hot the visit to Sigiriya was probably one of the highlights of the tour for me, and I think Frank feels the same. Of all the archaeological sites we had visited Sigiriya was the most impressive with its pleasure gardens, moats and ramparts, paintings and palace complex on top of the ”Lion Rock”. The book we bought at the airport describes it as a “unique concentration of fifth-century urban planning, architecture, gardening, engineering, hydraulic technology and art”. The rock fortress was built by King Kashyapa (477-495 AD) after a palace coup that resulted in the execution of his father. The 360 degree view from where the palace once stood on the summit some 200m above the surrounding jungle is magnificent.

First is a photo of our tour group including our guide Jayantha, our driver Sunil and assistant Chanthra. More or less from  left to right – Jayantha, Sunil, Brian, Alexe, Jane, Alistair, Marg, Des, Tania (hiding up the back with David), Jenny, Phil, Margaret, Frank and I down front, Fletch, John, Anne, Jim, Robyn, Anoushka and Chanthra.

There are lots of metal staircases now to help visitors to the site to get to the famous Apsara (celestial nymph) paintings found in a depression on the rock face more than 100m above ground level. Some of these staircases have been paid for by UNESCO. Unfortunately there were also a lot of would be helpers who kept trying to grab Alistair and I by the elbow to help us up steps etc. We managed to avoid them but I had to be a bit rude in the end. I planned on getting to the top under my own steam and at my own pace. We were fortunate in that the four of us (Frank, Phil, Alistair and I) ended up with a guide who was informative and not pushy. Others were less fortunate in avoiding the unwanted assistance.

We eventually arrived at the Lion Staircase that was roughly two thirds of the way to the top. If you look at the picture below you can see the lion’s paws and apparently there was a lion’s head made of bricks covering the base of the stairs – it must have been enormous. From here our tour guide Jayantha did not want us to go to the top as he was concerned about wasps or hornets. Apparently they had swarmed about a month ago and some people had had to be taken to hospital. A nearby cage covered in shade cloth was pointed out as the place to go in case of an attack, and we were asked to be as quiet as possible and told to wait for a decision. (Frank and I had already decided we were going up anyway even if it meant a mutiny.) Anyway we were finally allowed up to the top treading as quietly as we could on the metal steps past the wasp nests, the same steps that on our way back down rang to the sound of workmen’s hammers as they did a bit of maintenance on the staircase just above the wasp nests!

There were apparently 1,200 steps but I don’t think anyone counted them. The view from the top stretched for miles and miles and one very large Buddha way in the distance stood out clearly. You were also able to get a better feel for how extensive the palace on the summit had been, complete with private swimming pool and water tank for the king, and dancing halls for his 500 (yes – 500!) concubines. It also provided a very good view of the extensive gardens which in their day would have rivalled those of any stately home in Europe.

While we were there the hornets\wasps actually swarmed. We had to duck down low while an incredible number of insects came from one side of the rock (where we had come up the stairs, went over the top and who knows where over the other side.

After Sigiriya we would have been quite happy to return to the hotel and anyone of the three pools but no, there was another ancient city with ruins of temples and palaces we had to see. So off to Polonnaruwa we went. I made it about half way around the first site and beat a path back to the bus and the air-conditioning. After the temple ruins we were taken to the ruins of the royal palace, the Gal Viharaya where apparently there are four splendid statues of Buddha in upright, sedentary and recumbent postures carved out of a single slab of granite rock. But I’m afraid I didn’t even make it out of the bus as at this stage I was completely “templed-out”. [Pretty impressive when you consider that they are around 6 metres tall – Frank.] Frank took photos for me.