Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Sigiriya fortress


A palace was built on the site by King Kasyapa, who also built a massive garden complex. After the king died, the site reverted to its Buddhist roots, being used as a monastery for the next millennium, until finally being abandoned sometime in the 14th century. It remained lost until the beginning of the 20th century, when a British explorer, John Still, rediscovered it.

The rock of Sigiriya is a massive magma plug from a volcano which has long since eroded, leaving only the hardened rock of the plug to tower above the surrounding plain. It rises up more than 1200 feet (370m), and offers a remarkable view over the largely flat surrounding area.

Sigiriya is considered a very sophisticated site for the period. It makes use of interesting juxtapositions between asymmetrical structures and symmetrical structures to help the buildings meld seamlessly into the natural geometry of the place. It also includes technologically sophisticated features, such as water structures, both above and below the surface.

The site has four distinct regions. At the top of the rock, on the flat plateau, is the upper palace. Down a bit is the Lion Gate and the Mirror Walls, on a terrace mid-way down the rock. At the base of the rock is the lower palace, built on the slope that leads up to the sheer face. And coming out from the rock, for hundreds of feet, are various walls, moats, and elaborate gardens.

There are three separate garden forms at Sigiriya: the cave gardens, the boulder gardens, and the water gardens. All three are sophisticated in their design and implementation, and they are some of the oldest surviving examples of advanced landscaping from the ancient world. The use of water is particularly impressive and beautiful, with large flat stones set to have water barely covering them in a style similar to modern water features, underground water feeding tunnels, and fountains that continue to operate more than 1500 years after their construction.

The mirror wall is another technologically sophisticated structure at Sigiriya. It was originally conceived of so that the king would look into it and see himself in all his glory. Made of porcelain, it was originally kept polished during Kasyapa’s reign. After his death, it was no longer polished, and beginning in the 8th century visitors to the site began to leave messages written on the rock. These inscriptions have been well preserved, and their messages are still clearly visible.

Sigiriya is one of the most remarkable, and under-visited, archeological sites in the world. It is a site of incredible beauty, designed to embody many of the precepts of the Buddhism that was practiced at the site, and utilizing advanced technologies to demonstrate thegenius and power of King Kasyapa. It has been remarkably well preserved, and is a place that every visitor to Sri Lanka should endeavor to see.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sigiriya fortress


Sigiriya dates back from over 7,000 years ago, through Pre-Historic to Proto-Historic to Early Historic times, then as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 3rd century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the sangha.

The garden city and the palace was built by Kasyapa 477 – 495 AD. Then after Kasyapa’s death it was a monastery complex upto about the 14th century.

The Mahavamsa, the ancient historical record of Sri Lanka, describes King Kasyapa as a parricide, who murdered his father King Dhatusena by walling him up alive and then usurping the throne which rightfully belonged to his brother Mogallana. To escape from the armies of Mogallana, Kasyapa is said to have built his palace on the summit of Sigiriya, but Mogallana finally managed to get to Kasyapa and he committed suicide.

Kat Bitha, true story of Sigiriya

However, there is also another version of the Kasyapa story, related by one of the most eminent historians of Sri Lanka, Prof. Senerat Paranavitana. He claims to have deciphered the story of Sigiry, written by a monk named Ananda in the 15th cent. AD. this work had been inscribed on stone slabs, over which later inscriptions had been written. Till to date no other epigraphist has made a serious attempt to read the interlinear inscriptions.

Beautiful Island of Srilanka


The island of Sri Lanka lies in the Indian Ocean, to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal. It is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. According toHindu mythology, a land bridge to the Indian mainland, known as Rama's Bridge, was constructed during the time of Rama by the vanara architect Nala. Often referred to as Adam's Bridge, it now amounts to only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level.[20]

According to colonial British reports, this is a natural causeway which was formerly complete, but was breached by a violent storm in 1480.[21] The island consists mostly of flat-to-rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south-central part. Amongst these is the highest pointPidurutalagala, reaching 2,524 metres (8,281 ft) above sea level.

The climate of Sri Lanka can be described as tropical and warm. Its position between 5 and 10 north latitude endows the country with a warm climate moderated by ocean winds and considerable moisture. The mean temperature ranges from about 16 °C (60.8 °F) in the Central Highlands, where frost may occur for several days in the winter, to a maximum of approximately 33 °C (91.4 °F) in other low-altitude areas. The average yearly temperature ranges from 28 °C (82.4 °F) to nearly 31 °C (87.8 °F). Day and night temperatures may vary by 4 °C (7.20 °F) to 7 °C (12.60 °F). During the coldest days of January, many people wear coats and sweaters in the highlands and elsewhere.

May, the hottest period, precedes the summer monsoon rains. The rainfall pattern is influenced by monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal: as the winds encounter the mountain slopes of the Central Highlands, they unload heavy rains on the slopes and the southwestern areas of the island. Some of the windward slopes receive up to 2,500 millimetres (98.4 in) of rain each month, but the leeward slopes in the east and northeast receive little rain. Periodic squalls occur and sometimes tropical cyclones bring overcast skies and rains to the southwest, northeast, and eastern parts of the island.

Between December and March, monsoon winds come from the northeast, bringing moisture from the Bay of Bengal. Humidity is typically higher in the southwest and mountainous areas and depends on the seasonal patterns of rainfall, and places like Colombo experience daytime humidity above 70% all year round, rising to almost 90% during the monsoon season in June. Anuradhapura experiences a daytime low of 60% during the monsoon month of March, but a high of 79% during the November and December rains. In the highlands, Kandy's daytime humidity usually ranges between 70% and 79%.