Sigiriya: Ancient City Built By Gods
Today, we are going to talk about a place which is India’s immediate neighbour down South. This place has a great historical, cultural, political, religious and social affiliation with India. The language spoken in this country is very similar to the language spoken in the southern states of India; especially, Tamil Nadu. Up until recently, this nation has undergone a great political, economic and social upheaval, where its President escaped the country under the cover of night, after plundering the whole nation. As a result, the whole economic, political and social fabric of the nation came apart at the seams. There were a lot of protests, conflicts and demonstrations that kept the entire country in a state of turmoil and unrest for a great number of days. It is said to be still reeling under those effects. Well, I am talking about Sri Lanka.
The small island nation of Sri Lanka is a traveller’s delight and has a great affinity with India. The culture of this small country is very similar to ours and it has great mythological importance attached to the Hindu culture. ‘Ravana’ the great Asura king, who kidnapped ‘Sita’ in the great Epic ‘Ramayana’, belonged to Sri Lanka. The reason I am calling him great is that ‘Ravana’ has been claimed to have been a great scholar and warrior and also was an innovator much ahead of his time. He had commissioned ‘Vishwakarma’, the architect of the gods to build his much-flaunted city of ‘Lanka’. He was also a great devotee of ‘Lord Shiva’, and it is said that he had devoted his whole life to impressing ‘Lord Shiva’ to get blessings in the form of being immortal. He was also a great politician and strategist. That’s why ‘Lord Rama’, after defeating ‘Ravana’, instructed his younger brother ‘Laxmana’ to sit by Ravana’s feet and learn the intricacies of diplomacy, empire-building and making strategies. However, we have all been taught to hate ‘Ravana’ for his most evil deed of kidnapping ‘Devi Sita’.
Anyways, we are going to talk about a place that has a great historical and mythological significance in the history of Sri Lanka. I am talking about the ‘Mountain Top Fortress Kingdom of Sigiriya’. According to records, the ancient history of ‘Sigiriya’ is bound in a web of mythology and folklore. Some scholars believe that this was the “Ancient City Built by Gods.” It was known as “Alakamandava”, and is said to be built by ‘Kubera’, the half-brother of Asura King ‘Ravana’. Also according to legends, this particular piece of rock had been constructed under the supervision of the brilliant architect ‘Maya Danaav’, who worked under the instructions of King ‘Vishtavasa’, father of ‘Ravana’.
Historically, ‘Sigiriya’ was said to be built by King ‘Kashyapa’ as protection against his brother in the early 9th century A.D. Also, ‘Sigiriya’ rock is said to be decorated with breathtaking colourful frescoes. It is also believed historically that the beauty and myth of invincibility of ‘Sigiriya’ were finally destroyed by ‘Kashyapa’s brother ‘Mogallana’ in the 14th century. The most amazing aspect of this fortress city is its drawings of beautiful women, gardens etc. It is believed that ‘King Kashayapa’ had surrounded himself with some of the most beautiful women in his court and kingdom. Furthermore, it is also believed that these beautiful pictures of women were drawn as if they resembled ‘apsaras’. Also, it was believed that these beautiful women had supernatural powers.
It was rediscovered in 1831 by an Englishman, a major ‘Jonathan Forbes’ of the British army, on his way towards ‘Polonnaruwa’. It was since then that many excavations have been taking place to fully understand the grandeur and beauty of the ancient city that was ‘Sigiriya’. This place was converted into a ‘Buddhist Monastery’ after the 14th century, according to Dr ‘Mirando Obosekara’. It is located in the Sri Lankan towns of ‘Dambulla’ and ‘Haburane’ in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, it has declared a Heritage Site by UNESCO way back in the early 80s. The architecture of this ancient city ‘Sigiriya’ has been claimed to have been so magnificently done that it is still said to baffle modern day architects that how could such a brilliant place have been built at such height.
Truly, the grandeur and the majestic beauty of this ancient fortress city, built high upon the cliff will take anyone’s breath away.
