Posted on 06.10.2012, and completed on 23.12.2014
In the heart of the island Sri Lanka, dominating the surrounding jungle, rises approximately 370m Sigiriya (Lion's rock), sheer on all sides, in many places overhanging the base, elliptical in plan and with a flat top, which is gradually sloped along the long axis of the ellipse. The rock was used as monastery since the 5th century BC, with caves prepared by devotees of the Buddhist Sangha. According to Mahavamsa (an important text in Theravada Buddhism, which covers the early history of religion in Sri Lanka), during King Kashyapa’s reign (477-495 AD) Sigiriya developed into a complex city and fortress, being considered one of the most important urban planning sites of the first millennium, very elaborate and imaginative. There was a sculpted lion's head above the legs and paws flanking the entrance, but the head collapsed years ago.
The poem recounts that Dhatusena, the unifier of the country and the first king of the Moriyan dynasty, had two sons, Moggallana, the son of the royal consort, and Kashyapa, born to a non-royal concubine. The heir to the throne was the first of them, but Kashyapa rebelled against his father and overthrew him. Fearing an attack from Moggallana, who managed to escape and fled to South India, Kashyapa moved the capital from Anuradhapura to the more secure location of Sigiriya, where he constructed an elaborate city and a large citadel on top of the rock. He also buried his father alive in the bund of the Kalaweva, reason for which was called Pithru Ghathaka Kashyapa, meaning Kashyapa the Patricide. Finally Moggallana returned with an army, and in the battle that ensued in the plains surrounding Sigiriya he defeated Kashyapa, who killed himself with his own sword. The new king moved again the capital to Anuradapura, leaving Sigiriya to Buddhist monks, who used it until 14th century, when it was definitively abandoned.
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